This  Series  of  Guides  for  Science  Teaching  is  pub/ 
lished  as  supplementary  to  courses  of  Lectures  on  Botany}, 
Zoology,  and  Mineralogy  now  being  given  by  the  Teachers  ’ 
School  of  Science  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory.  The  average  attendance  this  year  is  about  fivje 
hundred,  and  all  persons  are  furnished  with  specimens  iji 
order  that  they  may  be  taught  how  to  observe  and  how  t<b 
teach  others  to  observe.  Professor  Goodale  has  demon¬ 
strated  that  even  so  large  audiences  as  these  can  be  suc¬ 
cessfully  instructed  by  this  method. 

The  Teachers’  School  of  Science  was  inaugurated  and 
supported  for  some  years  through  the  generosity  of  Mi. 
John  Cummings.  The  present  enlargement  of  its  field  o- 
usefulness  is  now,  however,  due  to  the  personal  labors 
and  munificence  of  several  ladies  of  Boston,  already  well 
known  for  their  public  benefactions. 


February,  1879. 


ALPHEUS  HYATT, 

Custodian 


asoston  g’ooetp  of  Hatuial  l£>tjjtorp. 


GUIDES  FOR  SCIENCE-TEACHING, 


No.  II 

Concerning  a  few  Common 

Plants. 


By  GEORGE  L.  GOODALE 


SECOND  EDITION. 


BOSTON  : 

D.  C.  HEATH  &  COMPANY. 
1893. 


» 


Copyright , 

By  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History 

1879. 


49rcss  of 
Brrfotck  $c 
Boston. 


*1 


521 


Qr  ie  I  C-i 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  botanical  lessons  in  the  Teachers’  Course  in 
Science,  for  1878-79,  are  given  at  that  period  of  the 
year  which  is  most  unfavorable  for  the  selection  of 
illustrative  material.  During  the  preparation  of  the 
lessons  under  this  serious  disadvantage,  and  while  the 
choice  of  objects  for  study  was  still  under  advisement, 
it  became  clear  that  a  few  printed  details  respecting 
the  illustrations  and  their  use  would  be  of  service  to 
the  teachers  in  attendance  upon  the  course. 

At  the  same  time,  a  fear  was  felt  that  such  a  printed 
supplement  might  perhaps  restrict  the  application  of 
the  methods  of  study  recommended,  by  binding  some 
teachers  to  the  use  of  only  the  scanty  materials  here 
employed.  It  is,  therefore,  with  some  misgivings  that 
the  supplement  has  been  prepared.  The  design  of  the 
lessons  is  to  point  out  one  method  by  which  a  few  of 
the  more  important  and  easily  observed  facts  can  be 
taught,  respecting  the  structure,  growth,  and  work  of 
plants ;  while  the  purpose  of  this  guide  is  to  call  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  manner  of  preparing  the  objects  selected 
for  such  elementary  study,  and  to  furnish  some  sugges¬ 
tions  as  to  the  way  they  can  most  readily  be  turned  to 


T*-£\  ^ 

P  OA 


6 


INTROD  UCTION. 


good  account.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  au* 
tumn,  spring,  and  summer,  more  abundant  material 
for  study  is  at  hand,  and  the  range  of  choice  is  at  those 
seasons  very  wide.  Therefore,  the  present  outline  must 
be  looked  upon  as  one  which  a  judicious  teacher  can 
change  for  the  better :  every  object  for  study  may  be 
replaced  by  others ;  and  the  sequence  in  which  the 
objects  are  examined  may  be  modified,  provided  the 
pupils  are  induced  to  observe  for  themselves,  to  com¬ 
pare  for  themselves,  and,  in  short,  to  do  their  own 
thinking.  The  teaching  which  is  advised  in  this 
course  of  botanical  .lessons  is  based  upon  the  belief 
that  the  pupil  must  earn  his  facts ;  that,  in  general, 
facts  which  a  pupil  may  acquire  for  himself  are  to  be 
placed  within  his  reach,  but  not  in  his  hands.  He 
must  make  some  exertion  to  get  knowledge,  in  order 
that  it  may  become  his.  But  in  what  way  can  a  pupil 
be  led  to  exert  himself?  Certainly  not  by  having 
every  thing  done  for  him. 

In  applying  this  general  statement  to  the  case  in 
hand,  it  may  be  said,  first,  that  the  interest  which  chil¬ 
dren  take  in  the  more  attractive  plants  around  them,  in 
the  brilliancy  and  varied  shapes  of  flowers,  and  in  the 
growth  of  seedlings,  should  be  increased  by  every 
means  at  the  teacher’s  command. 

It  may  be  remarked,  secondly,  that  the  information 
which  the  teacher  imparts  respecting  plants  in  which 
the  child  is  interested  should  be  furnished  with  the 
ultimate  design  of  leading  the  pupil  to  observe  for  him¬ 
self;  and,  with  tact,  this  can  be  done  even  with  the 
youngest.  Answer  all  questions  which  the  pupil  can¬ 
not  answer  for  himself  bv  careful  examination  of  the 


INTRODUCTION. \  7 

plant  before  him,  but  do  not  show  him  what  he  ought 
to  see  with  his  own  eyes,  and  without  help. 

The  successful  attempts  made  by  the  late  Professor 
J.  S.  Henslow,  of  Cambridge,  England,  to  introduce 
botanical  study  into  the  parish  and  common  schools, 
are  doubtless  known  to  many  readers  of  this  guide  ;  but 
it  may  not  be  so  widely  known  how  far  that  model 
teacher  insisted  upon  self-help. 

In  his  “  Practical  Lessons  on  Botany,”  *  Professor 
Henslow  makes  use  of  the  following  language  :  — 

“  In  order  to  employ  Botany  as  a  strictly  educational 
weapon,  we  must  not  confine  ourselves  to  telling  chil¬ 
dren  the  names  of  plants,  how  they  may  be  artificially 
grouped,  what  properties  they  possess,  or  the  few  physi¬ 
ological  facts  hitherto  established  with  more  or  less 
precision  respecting  them.  We  may  give  any  one  val¬ 
uable  instruction  of  this  description,  either  orally  or  by 
books,  without  having  exacted  the  requisite  attention 
to  the  structure  of  plants  which  demands  a  personal 
observation  of  facts,  and  a  decided  mental  effort  to 
derive  just  inferences  from  that  kind  of  circumstantial 
evidence  which  such  facts  afford  in  regard  to  their 
affinities.  Experience  has  satisfied  me  that  1  Structural 
Botany  ’  may  be  more  conveniently  and  extensively 
employed  than  any  other  branch  of  natural  science,  for 
strengthening  the  observant  faculties  and  expanding 
the  reasoning  powers  of  children  in  all  classes  of 
society.” 

He  further  says,  f  — 

*  Illustrations  to  be  employed  in  Practical  Lessons  on 
Botany,  adapted  to  Beginners  of  all  Classes.  Prepared  for  the 
South  Kensington  Museum,  by  the  Rev.  Professor  Henslow 
London  :  Chapman  &  Hall.  1S58.  8vo,  31  pp. 

t  p.  28. 


8 


INTRO D  UC  TION. 


“  Our  present  object  has  been  to  deal  merely  with 
the  rudiments  of  that  department  of  the  science  which 
seems,  above  all  other  branches  of  natural  science,  best 
adapted  for  educational  purposes.  These  are,  indeed, 
replete  with  difficulties  hard  to  be  overcome  by  inat¬ 
tentive,  unobservant  minds,  but  can  be  mastered  with¬ 
out  more  than  ordinary,  wholesome  painstaking,  even 
by  young  children.”  • 

The  “  wholesome  painstaking  ”  here  referred  to  is 
thought  to  be  an  important  element  of  success  in  oral 
teaching.  The  pupil  is  not  to  be  a  passive  recipient. 
The  teaching  is  not  to  be  a  “  pouring  in  :  ”  it  is  simply 
giving  the  thirsty  a  chance  to  drink. 

The  fact  is  often  deplored  that  some  pupils  make 
only  an  indolent  and  trifling  use  of  the  information 
given  them  by  their  teachers.  Is  it  not  a  pertinent 
question,  whether  the  fault  may  not  arise  from  the 
unwise  manner  in  which  the  information  is  imparted. 
Is  it  not  too  often  given  to  the  pupil,  without  any 
exertion  of  his  own?  Lavish  gifts  cannot  make  the 
recipient  thrifty  :  they  tend  to  make  him  a  spendthrift. 
A  possible  danger  of  oral  teaching,  and  much  other 
teaching,  for  that  matter,  comes  from  this  very  source  ; 
namely,  an  injudicious  giving  of  what  should  be 
earned.  To  guard  against  this  danger  in  the  limited 
field  now  before  us,  every  teacher  should  clearly  un¬ 
derstand  what  facts  are  within  the  pupil’s  reach,  and 
which  he  must  acquire  by  work.  But  there  are  facta 
which  lie  at  the  side  of  the  path  pursued  in  the  study, 
and  which  may  be  freely  furnished  by  the  teacher,  if 
they  heighten  interest  in  the  task.  If  they  fail  to  in¬ 
crease  the  interest,  or  if  they  distract  in  any  way,  it 


INTROD  UCTION. 


9 


is  because  they  have  been  injudiciously  selected,  or 
presented  at  an  unpropitious  time.  Let  it  not  be  for¬ 
gotten  that  oral  teaching  is  not  like  cross-tag,  a  game 
in  which  the  object  pursued  must  be  abandoned  foi 
the  hrst  thing  which  comes  between. 

For  the  purpose  of  assisting  teachers  in  their  work, 
this  little  guide  has  been  made  as  plain  and  as  full  as 
the  narrow  limits  allow. 

The  cultures  and  experiments,  of  which  details  are 
given,  can  be  managed  in  any  school-room,  without 
encroaching  seriously  upon  the  leisure  of  a  faithful 
teacher.  The  care  of  the  growing  plants,  and  the 
daily  observations  of  changes  in  their  form  and  kinds 
of  work,  should  devolve  upon  one  or  more  of  the 
pupils.  Even  the  slight  errors  which  may  be  at  first 
made  by  the  young  observers  and  experimenters,  and 
the  trifling  failures  which  will  result  therefrom,  can  be 
turned  to  good  account.  The  time  occupied  by  most 
of  the  cultures  is  so  short  that  frequent  repetitions 
will  be  found  practicable  and  desirable ;  and  the  dis¬ 
crepant  results  will  often  furnish  fresh  and  interesting 
material  for  study.  The  appliances  which  are  here 
recommended  are  of  the  most  trifling  cost.  Even 
simple  lenses  are  not  absolutely  required  for  any  of 
the  studies  here  suggested. 

To  anticipate  a  question  often  asked,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  treasuries  of  interesting  facts  in  Botany  upon 
which  a  skilful  teacher  can  draw  at  discretion  in  talks 
about  plants  are  very  numerous.  Besides  the  Ameri¬ 
can  treatises  referred  to  in  this  guide,  the  following 
may  be  mentioned  :  — ■ 


IO 


INTROD  UCTION. 


Lessons  in  Elementary  Botany.  By  Prof.  Oliver.  Mac¬ 
millan  &  Co.  :  London  and  New  York.  This  is  a  duo¬ 
decimo  volume,  based  upon  the  manuscripts  left  by  Prof. 
Henslow.  This  would  answer  every  purpose. 

A  System  of  Botany.  By  Le  Maout  and  Decaisne.  Trans¬ 
lated  from  the  French  by  Mrs.  Hooker.  A  quarto  volume 
of  about  a  thousand  pages. 

A  Class-Book  of  Botany.  By  Prof.  Balfour  of  Edinburgh. 

An  octavo  of  about  a  thousand  pages. 

Thome’s  Botany.  Translated  from  the  German  by  A.  W. 
Bennett.  An  excellent  translation  of  a  very  useful  book. 


NOTE. 

The  six  botanical  lessons  in  the  Teachers’  Course  in  Science 
were  given  on  Saturday  afternoons,  in  December  and  January. 
Each  of  the  five  hundred  teachers  was  provided  with  a  tray  in 
which  had  been  previously  arranged  the  specimens  required  for 
the  demonstration.  For  instance,  the  first  lesson  treated  of 
the  comparison  of  seedlings.  The  tray  before  each  listener 
held  fresh  specimens  of  the  following  plants  in  three  or  four 
stages  of  development, — bean,  corn,  pea,  morning-glory,  sun¬ 
flower,  wheat,  and  flax,  together  with  soaked  seeds  of  a  few 
other  plants.  These  specimens  formed  the  basis  of  the  practi¬ 
cal  lesson.  Although  the  Guide  adopts  the  course  marked 
out  for  the  sequence  of  the  lessons,  the  following  pages  are 
noi  lecture-notes. 


CONCERNING 


A  FEW  COMMON  PLANTS. 

Part  I. 


1.  SEEDLINGS  AND  SEEDS. 

I.  A  STUDY  OF  THE  PARTS  OF  ONE  SEEDLING,  AND  THEIR 
RELATION  TO  THE  PARTS  OF  A  SEED. 

A  couple  of  quarts  of  clean  sea-sand  in  small  flower¬ 
pots,  or  in  shallow  glasses,  or  in  deep  plates,  will 
answer  for  the  garden.  The  best  seeds  to  begin  with 
are  beans  and  peas.  The  variety  known  as  Horticul¬ 
tural  Bean  is  large,  and  adapted  to  the  purpose ;  but 
common  White  Beans  will  do  about  as  well.  Any  of 
the  ordinary  varieties  of  Garden  Peas  may  be  employed. 
Two  ounces  of  beans  and  one  ounce  of  peas  will  be 
an  abundant  supply. 

Let  the  pupils  plant  a  dozen  seeds  of  each  sort  half 
an  inch  deep  in  the  moist  sand,  and  place  the  flower¬ 
pots  containing  them  on  a  table  where  the  temperature 
will  be  about  65°  or  70°  Fahrenheit*.  It  is  a  good  plan 
to  have  the  flower-pots  covered  at  first  by  a  pane  of 
glass,  in  order  to  keep  the  sand  moist.  The  pupils  in 
charge  of  these  cultures  should  take  good  care  lest 
the  sand  becomes  dry.  When  the  seedlings  start, 


12 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


which  will  usually  be  in  two  or  three  days,  a  second 
lot  of  seeds  should  be  planted,  and  in  two  days  more 
a  third.  The  care  of  the  seedlings  ought  to  fall  upon 
the  pupils,  and  not  directly  upon  the  teacher.  It  will 
be  generally  found  that  this  trifling  care  is  willingly 
assumed.  At  the  end  of  a  week  or  ten  days,  the 
seedlings  will  all  be  growing  well.  When  the  largest 
seedlings  are  four  or  five  inches  high,  the  suite  of 
specimens  will  range  from  seeds  just  starting  up  to 
those  with  three  or  more  green  leaves.  To  complete 
the  set,  let  a  dozen  seeds  of  both  kinds  be  soaked  in 
water,  a  day  before  the  first  systematic  study  of  the 
plants.  The  bean-plants  are  to  be  carefully  removed 
from  the  sand,  and  arranged  by  the  pupils,  who  will 
place  them  in  a  series  running  from  the  largest 
series,  down  to  the  smallest,  the  latter  being,  of  course, 
the  soaked  seeds  which  have  not  germinated. 

With  the  series  before  him,  the  pupil  may  be  left  to 
himself  to  study  out  the  differences  and  the  points  of 
likeness ;  but,  in  general,  it  will  be  found  better  for 
the  teacher  to  guide  the  work  by  asking  a  few  simple 
questions,  which  must  be  answered  by  an  examination  of 
the pla?its.  The  questions  may  first  bear  upon  the  differ¬ 
ences  between  the  largest,  the  middle-sized,  and  the 
smallest  plants,  in  order  to  bring  out  the  changes  which 
have  taken  place  by  growth.  It  will  be  seen  at  once 
that  the  pupil  begins  to  match  the  parts  which  corre¬ 
spond  to  each  other,  and  that  he  can  identify  the  parts 
of  the  seedlings  with  their  rudiments  in  the  seed.  He 
will  trace  back  the  roots  of  the  plants  to  the  tip  of  the 
cone-like  body  in  the  seed  ;  the  shrivelled  and  greenish 
seed-leaves  are  seen  to  be  the  withering  halves  which 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


*3 


made  up  the  bulk  of  the  seed ;  the  stem  below  these 
and  the  stem  above,  with  its  green  leaves,  are  identified 
with  their  promise  in  the  seed  itself.  He  will  see  for 
himself  how  the  seedling  escaped  from  its  integuments, 
and  in  what  order  its  parts  have  successively  appeared. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  a  few  other  seedlings  of  the 
same  sort  raised  in  a  slightly  different  way ;  namely, 
upon  wet  paper.  These  seedlings  are  wholly  free  from 
sand,  and  may  serve  to  make  the  series  a  little  more 
complete.  For  paper  planting,  use  thick  blotting-paper 
on  a  pane  of  glass.  The  paper  is  to  be  thoroughly 
moistened  with  warm  water,  and  upon  it  a  few  seeds  of 
each  kind  are  to  be  placed.  These  are  to  be  covered 
by  a  moist  sheet  of  paper  like  the  lower  one,  and  the 
whole  kept  warm  and  damp.  A  damp  sponge,  or  wet 
cotton-batting,  or  moist  sawdust,  would  be  just  as  good 
a  support  for  the  seeds :  the  seeds  need  warmth, 
moisture,  and  access  of  air,  and  these  conditions  are 
furnished  by  any  of  the  materials  mentioned ;  but  the 
sand  and  the  paper  will  be  found  in  practice  to  be  most 
convenient  and  cleanly.  Another  method  of  raising 
the  seedlings  may  be  mentioned  at  this  point.  After 
the  seed  has  sprouted  on  wet  paper,  suspend  it  care¬ 
fully  by  a  thread,  or  upon  a  perforated  card,  over  water 
in  a  tumbler  or  glass  vase,  so  that  the  roots  dip  beneath 
the  surface,  while  the  seed-leaves  remain  held  above. 
The  roots  will  spread  through  the  water,  and  the  leaves 
will  expand  in  the  air.  An  acorn  or  a  grain  of  corn 
treated  in  this  manner  will  be  watched  with  great 
interest. 

When  the  pupil  has  made  himself  familiar  with  the 
develoDment  of  the  seedling  beans,  and  has  compared 


M 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


their  parts  with  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  seeds, 
he  is  prepared  to  examine  in  the  same  way  the 
series^  seedlings  of  the  pea.  The  sequence  of  points 
observed  may  be  the  same  as  before,  but 
never  let  any  order  degenerate  into  a  monotonous 
routine. 


2.  COMPARISON  OF  TWO  SEEDLINGS. 

After  this  examination  has  been  made,  the  compari¬ 
son  of  the  plants  of  bean  and  pea  is  to  be  undertaken. 
In  some  particulars  the  plants  resemble  each  other 
closely,  in  other  characters  they  are  very  different. 
The  differences  and  the  points  of  likeness  are  all  to  be 
brought  out  clearly,  so  that  the  following  questions  can 
be  answered  from  the  student’s  examination  of  the 
plants  :  — 

i st.  What  are  the  differences  between  the  parts  of 
the  larger  and  the  smaller  plants  of  the  same  kind  ? 

2d.  What  are  the  differences  between  the  two  kinds 
of  plants,  the  seedling  bean  and  the  seedling  pea? 

3d.  What  do  the  seedling  bean  and  the  seedling 
pea  have  in  common  ? 

Each  of  these  questions  must  of  course  be  much 
divided,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  whole  sub¬ 
ject  has  been  thoroughly  examined  by  the  pupil.  The 
character  of  the  subordinate  questions  must  be  care¬ 
fully  adapted  by  the  teacher  to  the  capacity  of  the  par¬ 
ticular  class  of  pupils.  Just  at  this  point,  it  must  be 
said  that  the  task  of  observing,  comparing,  and  judging, 
may  be  made  attractive  by  the  teacher,  or  it  may  be 
made  irksome,  depending  on  the  kind  of  questions 
asked.  The  child  will  be  interested  in  the  work,  if  it  is 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


*5 


not  made  too  easy,  if  the  questions  are  so  designed 
and  arranged  as  to  stimulate  curiosity  instead  of  weary¬ 
ing  the  mind. 

It  will  be  asked  by  some  teachers,  whether  it  would 
not  be  well  to  furnish  technical  terms  to  the  pupils  at 
the  beginning  of  their  study.  The  late  Professor 
Henslow  believed  that  the  ordinary  botanical  adjectives 
and  nouns  should  be  employed  at  the  outset.  His 
views  upon  this  subject  are  very  clearly  stated  in  the 
following  extract  from  the  educational  work  previously 
referred  to  :  — 

“  In  order  to  secure  a  beneficial  result  of  this  sort, 
[that  is,  to  strengthen  the  observant  faculties  and 
expand  the  reasoning  powers  of  children,]  we  must 
not  avoid  the  use  of  certain  technical  expressions, 
however  pedantically  unnecessary  they  may  appear  to 
persons  unacquainted  with  their  importance  and  unac¬ 
customed  to  their  use.  Scientifically  accurate  ideas 
must  always  be  conveyed  either  by  entirely  new  words 
or  by  peculiar  technical  meanings  assigned  to  old  words. 
Botanists  employ  both  methods.  Some  of  the  most 
important  technical  terms  have  not  been  judiciously 
selected.  Some  are  too  long,  others  harsh  and  un¬ 
grammatical.  But  the  few  terms  to  which  these  objec¬ 
tions  apply  cannot  be  satisfactorily  dispensed  with 
They  are  thoroughly  established,  and  are,  in  fact,  much 
more  readily  learned  than  might  be  imagined.” 

Professor  Henslow’s  first  step  in  the  instruction  of  his 
class  of  children  was  to  place  before  them  the  follow¬ 
ing  words  to  be  correctly  spelled  from  memory  :  -  - 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


16 


Class. 

(I.  Exercise.) 

1.  Dicotyledons. 

2.  Monocotyledons. 

3.  Acotyledons. 


Division. 

(II.  Exercise.) 

1.  Angiospermous.  j 

2.  Gymnospermous. 

(III.  Exercise. ) 
f  1.  Petaloid.  j 

2.  Glumaceous. 


Section. 

(IV.  Exercise .) 

1.  Thalamifloral. 

2.  Calycifloral. 

3.  Corollifloral. 

4.  Incomplete. 


Superior. 

Inferior. 


One  part  of  each  Monday  lesson  consisted  of  a 
Hard-word  Exercise.  “Two  or  three  words  named 
one  Monday  are  to  be  correctly  spelled  the  next  Mon¬ 
day.” 

This  must  be  called  an  extreme  method,  and,  at  first 
sight,  it  would  be  called  an  impracticable  one ;  but, 
judged  by  its  results,  it  is  admirably  adapted  to  some 
classes  of  pupils.  (In  a  most  useful  adaptation  and 
amplification  of  Professor  Henslow’s  system  of  botan¬ 
ical  teaching,  Miss  Youmans  *  has  pursued  a  very  judi¬ 
cious  course.  The  technical  terms  are  not  thrust  upon 
the  student :  they  are  introduced  only  as  they  are 
needed  in  recording  the  results  of  observation.)  In  oral 
instruction,  however,  it  would  seem  to  be  better  to  let 
the  technical  terms  come  only  when  they  can  be  of  as¬ 
sistance  to  the  student,  and  felt  to  be  aids  in  his  work. 
Technical  words  are  short-cuts  across  tiresome  circumlo¬ 
cutions.  Children  can  be  early  made  to  feel  that  much 
is  gained  by  their  appropriate  and  timely  use  ;  but  in  the 

*  The  First  Book  of  Botany,  designed  to  cultivate  the  ob¬ 
serving  powers  of  children.  By  Eliza  A.  Youmans.  New 
York. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


simple  studies  of  plants  here  recommended  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  technical  substantives  and  adjectives  can  be  for 
the  most  part  avoided.  In  the  case  of  the  youngest 
pupils,  this  avoidance  of  such  terms  should  be  regarded 
as  very  necessary  :  the  term  must  never  come  between 
the  child  and  the  thing  or  the  phenomenon  studied. 


3.  VERY  DIFFERENT  SEEDLINGS  COMPARED  WITH 

EACH  OTHER. 

To  procure  material  for  this  purpose,  plant  in  the 
manner  before  directed  a  few  seeds  of  Squash,  Morn¬ 
ing-glory,  and  Water-cress,  and  a  few  of  the  seed-like 
fruits  (commonly  called  “seeds’’)  of  Sunflower,  In¬ 
dian  Corn,  Four-o’clock,  and  Wheat.  The  cress-seed 
need  not  be  placed  below  the  surface  of  the  sand. 
When  any  of  the  seedlings  have  fairly  started,  let  a 
second  set  of  the  seeds  of  the  same  be  sown,  and,  when 
the  latter  have  sprouted,  plant  a  third  set.  Each 
kind  of  seedling  is  to  be  examined  after  the  Jeries. 
manner  fully  detailed  with  respect  to  the  bean, 
and  all  its  parts  are  to  be  matched  with  the  parts  seen 
in  the  seed.  Afterwards  let  these  different  kinds  of 
seedlings  be  carefully  compared  with  each  other,  and 
with  such  seedlings  of  the  bean  and  pea  as  may  have 
been  left  over.  The  differences  in  development  are 
plainly  seen ;  the  points  of  likeness  are  not  so  obvious, 
but  their  recognition  must  be  insisted  upon.  The  child 
must  be  led  by  questions,  never  by  statements,  to  see 
the  resemblance  between  the  seedlings  before  him. 
If  this  is  honestly  and  patiently  tried,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  child,  by  a  decided  mental  effort,  will  detect 


1 8 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


what  the  seedlings  have  in  common.  He  will  see  that 
in  some  cases  the  seed-leaves  have  become  pretty  good 
green  leaves,  that  in  others  they  are  shrunken  and  green¬ 
ish,  that  in  others  they  do  not  come  into  the  light.  He 
will  notice  also  differences  in  number  as  well  as  shape. 
By  adroit  questions,  the  teacher  can  lead  the  pupil  up 
to  the  examination  of  what  the  seed-leaves  can  possibly 
be  for,  and  without  furnishing  any  aid  to  the  investi¬ 
gator  elicit  at  last  the  suggestion  that  they  may  be  food- 
leaves  for  the  young  plant.  Some  young  plants  begin 
to  earn  their  own  living  very  early,  others  have  a  good 
store  laid  up  for  them,  and  this  store  of  food  is  put  in 
f  different  places,  and  is  of  different  kinds.  Let 
of  seed-  the  food  be  searched  for  in  the  Four-o’clock  and 
Corn  and  Morning-glory ;  and,  when  the  pupil 
has  made  out  this  for  himself,  the  other  kinds  of  food 
which  seedlings  have  may  be  described  as  the  teacher 
may  have  leisure.  The  food  of  the  vegetable-ivory  seed 
ling,  which  is  as  hard  as  ivory  itself ;  the  food  of  the  nut¬ 
meg-seedling,  the  aromatic  substance  which  makes  up 
the  bulk  of  the  seed  ;  and  other  sorts  of  food,  —  can  fur¬ 
nish  material  for  a  talk  which  would  not  be  uninterest¬ 
ing  even  to  the  dullest  pupil.  The  oily  food  of  flax- 
seedlings  can  be  shown  in  some  crushed  flax-seed 
placed  between  dry  blotting-paper.  Th.^  linseed  oil 
will  appear  in  the  paper.  The  very  different  food  of 
wheat-seedlings  may  be  exhibited  best  in  very  fine 
flour.  The  flour  is  to  be  slightly  moistened  in  the  hand 
and  kneaded  until  it  becomes  an  homogeneous  mass. 
Upon  this  mass  pour  some  pure  water,  and  wash  out 
all  the  white  powder  until  nothing  is  left  except  a  viscid 
lump  of  gluten.  This  is  the  part  of  the  crushed  wheat- 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


l9 


grains  which  very  closely  resembles  in  its  composition 
the  flesh  of  animals.  The  white  powder  washed  away 
is  nearly  pure  wheat-starch.  Of  course  the  other 
ingredients,  such  as  the  mineral  matter  and  the  like, 
might  be  referred  to ;  but  the  starch,  at  least,  should 
be  shown.  When  the  seed  is  placed  in  proper  soil,  or 
upon  a  support  where  it  can  receive  moisture,  and  can 
get  at  the  air,  and  still  be  warm  enough,  a  part  of  the 
starch  changes  into  a  sort  of  gum  like  that  on  postage- 
stamps,  and  finally  becomes  a  kind  of  sugar.  Upon 
this  syrup  the  young  seedling  feeds  until  it  has  some 
good  green  leaves  for  work ;  and,  as  we  have  seen  in 
the  case  of  some  plants,  it  has  these  very  early. 

The  starchy  food  in  seeds  keeps  good  a  long  while, 
and  seeds  having  such  food  will  grow,  even  after  they 
have  been  kept  for  many  years  ;  but  the  oily  seeds  are 
apt  to  spoil  much  sooner.  The  food  in  the  seed  is 
packed  away  in  minute  compartments  (cells),  and  is 
used  by  the  seedling  in  making  new  compartments  for 
different  kinds  of  work.  How  the  starch  was  made  for 
and  put  into  the  seed,  and  how  it  is  used  in  growth, 
will  be  seen  later  on. 

II.  HOW  THE  PARTS  OF  FLOWERING  PLANTS 
HELP  ONE  ANOTHER. 

This  guide  is  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  only 
the  flowering  plants,  those  which  have  true  blossoms 
and  bear  seeds  with  plantlets  in  them.  Therefore, 
mosses  and  their  kindred  are  not  now  treated  of.  If 
any  of  the  seedlings  spoken  of  in  L  i,  2,  or  3,  be  care¬ 
fully  examined  when  it  has  a  few  green  leaves,  it  will  be 


20 


CONCERNING  4  EE  IV 


seen  to  be  made  up  of  roots,  stem,  leaves,  and  a  few 
delicate  plant-hairs.  Now  these  are  all  the  parts  that 
any  flowering  plant  ever  has  :  the  thorns  and  tendrils, 
and  showy  leaves  and  blossoms,  and  all  the  parts  of 
every  blossom,  are  only  modified  forms  of  one  or  more 
of  the  four  parts  or  members  just  spoken  of.  This  is 
the  statement,  made  abruptly  and  in  few  words,  of  the 
accepted  theory  of  plant  structure.  Of  course  it  is 
difficult  to  bring  such  an  abstruse  notion  before  a  child; 
but,  inasmuch  as  the  notion  itself  is  of  great  assistance 
even  in  a  very  rudimentary  study  of  common  plants, 
the  endeavor  ought  to  be  made.  The  attempt  has 
been  successfully  made  in  the  following  manner :  The 
several  series  of  older  seedlings  with  plenty  of  leaves 
and  good  roots  are  to  be  placed  before  the  pupil  with 
some  such  question  as  this  :  How  many  times  are  parts 
which  are  made  up  of  a  joint  of  stem,  and  a  green  leaf 
above ,  repeated  in  each  plant  ?  In  one,  there  will  be 
six  or  more  of  these  repeated  parts ;  in  another,  only 
two  or  three  ;  in  another,  perhaps  only  one.  That  the 
“  repeated  parts  ”  differ  greatly  in  their  shape  has  been 
noticed  in  the  study  of  the  seedlings ;  that  the  re¬ 
peated  leaves  have  different  kinds  of  work  was  also 
then  made  plain.  If  this  is  clearly  understood,  the 
pupil  may  be  told  that  these  “  repeated  parts  ” 
are  hoping  parts  or  helpful  parts.  These  parts 
are  mutually  helpful :  they  help  one  another. 
The  whole  plant  is  made  up  of  just  such  parts,  which 
have  taken  different  forms  for  different  kinds  of  work, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  leaves  of  the  pea.  It  has  been 
found  that  children  grasp  this  notion  of  the  helping- 
parts  very  readily,  and  hold  it  very  firmly,  as  an  aid  in 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


2  \ 


their  further  progress.  (Although  it  would  be  advisa¬ 
ble  in  the  case  of  the  older  pupils  to  bring  out  clearly 
the  notion  of  the  phyton,  or  phytomer,  the  internode 
of  stem  with  its  node  and  leaf,  it  is  generally  better  to 
state  that  the  helping  parts  are  joints  of  stem  with  the 
leaf  which  belongs  to  it,  and  that  any  one  of  these 
helping  parts  may  have  roots  and  hairs,  and,  further, 
that  they  take  very  different  forms  for  different  kinds 
of  work.) 

The  seedlings  have  shown  these  helpful  parts,  ar¬ 
ranged  in  regular  order.  From  the  lowest  of  the  help¬ 
ful  parts  of  the  bean,  the  root  started ;  but,  in  the 
Indian  corn,  roots  have  started  off  also  higher  up. 
Again,  they  have  plant-hairs  in  different  places.  Upon 
the  youngest  rootlets  of  the  wheat  or  corn  planted  on 
wet  paper,  the  hairs  are  very  abundant ;  and  there  are 
some  hairs  scattered  on  the  leaves  of  the  bean.  These 
roots  and  the  hairs  are  to  be  examined  later. 

The  succession  of  the  helpful  parts  will  be  noticed 
best  in  slips  of  the  common  plants,  “Wandering  Jew,” 
or  Tradescantia,  Heliotrope,  and  Bouvardia.  In  the 
case  of  the  Tradescantia,  the  growth  of  a  slip  or  cut¬ 
ting  in  moist  sand,  or  with  the  lower  end  in  water,  is 
very  instructive  :  roots  grow  from  the  lowest  of  the 
helpful  parts,  and  furnish  the  food  needed  in  solution, 
new  leaves  expand  above  to  get  food,  as  we  shall 
see,  from  the  air  :  and  thus  a  separate,  self-  „ 

A  Comma- 

SUppOrting  colony  is  established.  A  flower-  nitiesand 

.  .  ,  .  .  r  colonies. 

mg  plant  is  a  community  from  which  many 
such  colonies  might  be  removed. 

Next,  the  pupil  should  be  led  to  study  the  question  : 
Where  do  these  helpful  parts  come  from  ?  For  this 


22 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


purpose,  a  good  branch  of  Horsechestnut,  stripped  of 
its  leaves,  but  having  large  buds,  will  be  found  useful. 
This  should  be  studied  without  any  help  from  the 
teacher ;  in  fact,  if  any  aid  is  asked  for,  it  may  be 
accepted  as  an  indication  that  the  pupil  has  made  too 
great  haste  and  to  very  little  purpose.  A  child  who  has 
patiently  gone  through  the  examination  of  the  seed¬ 
lings  will  be  able  to  see  that  the  bud-scales  are  leaves, 
•changed  in  form,  to  be  sure,  but  not  so  much  as  some 
of  those  in  the  seedlings,  and  that  these  leaves  are 
regularly  but  closely  packed  upon  a  tiny  space  from 
which  the  stem  is  to  grow  in  the  spring.  In  many  of 
the  larger  and  more  plump  buds  of  horsechestnut,  the 
rudimentary  flower-cluster  can  be  seen.  Next,  ask  the 
pupil  how  old  a  fragment  of  a  branch  with  a  terminal 
bud  is  ;  and,  if  he  has  fully  grasped  the  idea  that  a  bud 
is  the  promise  of  a  branch,  he  will  count  back  and  see 
how  many  rings  of  bud-scale  scars  there  are  on  the 
stem.  The  clusters  of  rings  mark  the  years. 

In  the  buds  of  Lilac,  the  four-sided  character  of  the 
bud  will  probably  attract  attention.  Any  of  the  large 
buds  of  our  deciduous  shrubs  and  trees  will  present 
many  interesting  features  for  examination ;  namely,  the 
relative  size,  position  normally  in  the  upper  a?igle  which 
a  leaf  makes  with  the  stem ,  the  protective  scales  or 
outer  parts,  the  mode  of  packing,  and  the  presence  or 
absence  of  flowers  within.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  subject  of  buds  can  possess  as  much  interest 
for  younger  as  for  the  older  pupils ;  nor  will  it  be  found 
for  the  latter  as  interesting  as  the  studies  of  seedlings 
and  flowers.  But,  nevertheless,  with  the  exercise  of 
some  tact,  good  use  can  be  made  of  the  abundant 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


23 


material  for  study  which  our  common  buds  affoid.  In 
winter,  or  better  at  the  approach  of  spring,  shoots  with 
strong  buds  can  be  kept  fresh  for  a  long  time  by  dip¬ 
ping  the  lower  end  of  the  cutting  in  water,  and  some¬ 
times  the  buds  will  develop  good  leaves.  Shoots  of 
Rhodora  and  Cassandra  having  flower-buds  will  bloom 
after  a  few  weeks’  exposure  to  the  warm  air  of  a  room, 
provided  the  cut  ends  are  not  allowed  to  dry.  And 
this  brings  up  the  allied  subject  of  flower-buds  and 
what  they  teach.  Procure  for  the  purpose  of  this  study 
good  flower-buds  of  any  common  house-plant ;  and 
with  these  give  the  pupils  large  leaf-buds  of  Lilac  or 
Horsechestnut  for  examination  and  comparison.  Most 
of  them  will  soon  remark  upon  the  regular  though  dif¬ 
ferent  arrangement  in  the  various  parts  of  buds,  and 
recall  the  fact  that  a  bud  is  the  promise  of  a  branch. 
The  application  of  this  to  the  case  in  hand  will  force 
the  conclusion  that,  since  whatever  springs  from  a  bud 
is  some  sort  of  a  branch,  a  developed  flower  from  a 
flower-bud  must  be  a  branch  too.  And  so  it  is.  The 
helpful  parts  are  here  arranged  in  a  very  regular  manner, 
and  many  of  them  are  greatly  changed  in  form  and 
in  work.  From  this  subject,  to  be  examined  fully  in 
another  place,  we  pass  naturally  to  the  development  of 
buds  underground.  A  leaf-bud  —  that  is,  an  incipient 
stem  —  develops  by  lengthening  the  distance  between 
the  successive  leaves.  Under  ground,  in  firm  soil,  such 
buds  develop  at  great  disadvantage ;  and  the  stems 
soon  become  more  or  less  distorted,  the  degree  of  dis¬ 
tortion  depending  somewhat  upon  the  character  of  the 
soil  in  which  growth  takes  place.  The  extremes  are  to 
be  found  in  Beach  Bind-grass  (Calamagrostis arenarid) , 


( 


24  CONCERNING  A  FEW 

which  has  long  internodes  or  joints  of  stem,  and  such 
plants  as  Iris,  or  Blue  Flag,  and  Solomon’s  Seal.  In  not 
a  few  cases,  the  growth  of  the  underground  stem  gives 
rise  to  very  curious  forms,  which  may  be  puzzling  at  first ; 
for  instance,  the  solid  bulb  or  corm  of  crocus,  and  the 
thickened  tip  of  the  underground  branch  of  potato, 
namely,  the  tuber  itself.  The  “  eyes  ”  of  the  potato  are 
merely  disguised  buds  which  have  a  good  stock  of  food 
behind  them.  Potato-planting  is  colonizing,  in  which 
the  tubers  are  the  colonies  separated  from  the  home 
community.  A  very  bad  kind  of  such  colonizing  takes 
place  when  the  underground  stems  of  Witch-grass 
(  Triticum  repens)  are  only  broken  off,  but  not  taken  out 
of  the  soil,  in  hoeing  the  ground.  The  helpful  parts  are 
detached  from  each  other,  and  each  fragment  serves  as 
a  starting  point  for  a  new  plant.  In  grafting  and  in 
budding,  one  or  more  groups  of  colonies  of  helpful 
parts  are  removed,  not  to  soil  where  they  would  have 
at  once  to  shift  for  themselves,  but  to  a  kindred  plant, 
which  furnishes  proper  nutriment  from  the  very  first. ' 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  from  a  few  kinds  of  buds 
children  may  learn  a  good  many  things.  They  will 
clearly  apprehend  the  notion  that  buds  consist  of  help¬ 
ful  parts  which  are  packed  away  in  a  rudimentary  form  ; 
and  they  will,  after  a  little,  recognize  buds  under  their 
many  disguises  in  bulbs,  bulblets,  and  the  like.  When 
they  have  made  this  out,  they  will  next  proceed  to  learn 
that  buds  are  formed  as  a  rule  in  the  axil  *  of  leaves, 
and  that  whatever  grows  from  a  bud  is  a  branch  of  some 
son ;  all  of  which  facts  can  be  learned  by  observation, 
and  not  merely  told  to  the  pupil. 

*  That  is,  the  upper  angle  formed  by  the  leaf  and  the  stem 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


35 


III.  ROOTS. 

I.  TKEIR  MODE  OF  GROWTH. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  examination  of  seedlings  and 
cuttings,  roots  can  start  from  different  points  of  the 
stem.  In  some  cases,  they  can  arise  from  the  leaf-stalk 
or  even  from  the  leaf-blade  itself.  The  root,  whatever 
its  origin  in  any  case  may  be,  grows  in  length  only  in 
one  way ;  namely,  at  a  point  just  behind  its  very  tip. 
This  growing  point  is  usually  protected  by  a  peculiar 
cap,  which  insinuates  its  way  through  the  crevices  of  the 
soil.  If  roots  should  grow  as  stems  escaping  from  the 
bud-state  do,  —  that  is,  throughout  their  whole  length, — • 
they  would  speedily  become  distorted.  But,  since  they 
grow  at  the  protected  tips,  they  can  make  their  way 
through  the  interstices  of  soil,  which  from  its  compact¬ 
ness  would  otherwise  forbid  their  progress. 

That  roots  grow  in  length  only  in  this  way  can  be 
easily  proved  by  a  simple  experiment,  which  can  be  left 
to  the  management  of  any  pupil.  Let  a  young 
seedling  of  corn  be  grown  on  damp  paper  in  the  grow  in 
manner  described  in  I.  1,  and,  when  the  longest 
root  is  a  few  centimetres  long,  let  it  be  marked  very  care¬ 
fully  by  means  of  India  ink  or  purple  ink,  put  on  with 
a  delicate  camel’s-hair  pencil,  by  lines  just  one  centi¬ 
metre  apart.  The  plants  thus  marked  are  to  be  kept 
under  favorable  conditions  with  respect  to  moisture  and 
warmth,  so  that  growth  will  be  as  rapid  as  possible. 
The  marks  on  the  older  part  of  the  root  will  not  change 
their  relative  distance,  but  the  mark  at  the  tip  will  be 


26 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


carried  away  from  the  one  next  to  it,  showing  that  the 
growth  has  taken  place  only  at  this  point.  Such  experi¬ 
ments  as  the  one  just  described  are  perfectly  practica¬ 
ble  for  all  classes  of  pupils  except  the  very  youngest. 
How  far  the  details  of  these  experiments  should  be 
suggested  to  the  pupils,  or  rather  how  far  they  should 
be  left  to  work  out  the  problems  for  themselves,  is  a 
question  to  be  settled  by  the  teacher  in  each  case. 
The  better  plan  generally  is  to  bring  the  problem  in  a 
very  clear  form  before  the  whole  class,  or  before  the 
whole  school,  and  ask  whether  anybody  can  think  of  a 
way  in  which  it  can  be  solved  ;  for  instance,  in  this  case 
how  can  it  be  found  out  whether  roots  grow  only  at 
their  tip  or  throughout  their  whole  length.  If  the  way 
is  thought  out  by  even  a  single  pupil,  the  rest  will  be 
interested  in  seeing  whether  the  plan  will  work  success¬ 
fully.  The  conditions  which  govern  the  growth  of 
roots  in  length  may  be  made  a  very  attractive  study,  by 
leading  the  pupils  who  are  for  the  time  in  charge  of  the 
experiments  to  race  the  root-tips.  The  quick-witted 
experimenters  will  soon  learn  the  best  degree  of  warmth 
and  the  requisite  amount  of  moisture  for  improving  the 
time  made  by  the  root-tips  under  their  care. 

The  branching  of  roots  never  seems  very  symmetrical 
at  first  sight,  but  that  there  is  sometimes  an  obscure 
order  underlying  the  arrangement  can  be  made 
branch?°ts  clear  by  the  water  culture  referred  to  under  I.  i. 

Concerning  the  thickening  up  of  roots  as  store¬ 
houses  of  food,  nothing  will  now  be  said. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


27 


2.  THEIR  WORK. 

If  the  roots  of  the  youngest  seedlings  of  wheat  or  flax 
are  carefully  examined,  they  will  be  seen  to  be  covered, 
except  near  the  tip,  by  a  very  delicate  fuzz 
made  up  of  extremely  fine  hairs.  These  are 
the  root- hairs,  which  serve  to  take  up  the  water- 
food  for  plants.  They  are  so  exquisitely  delicate  that 
the  slightest  touch  crushes  them ;  and,  if  the  plant  is 
lifted  from  the  soil,  all  the  root-hairs  are  left  behind, 
or  else  a  few  hold  fast  to  finer  particles  of  soil  which 
are  brought  away. 

Of  course,  a  microscope  is  very  necessary  in  any 
careful  examination  of  root-hairs ;  but  the  hairs  can  be 
seen  without  one  in  the  cases  mentioned,  and  in  some 
others,  where  they  are  looked  for  carefully.  The  pupils 
may  be  told  that  it  is  these  root-hairs,  and  not  the  very 
tips  of  the  roots,  which  absorb  water.  This  can  be 
studied  practically  by  the  older  pupils  in  the  way 
pointed  out  by  Ohlert,  a  German  school-teacher,  who 
first  published,  in  1837,  an  account  of  root-hairs. 
The  tips  may  be  carefully  removed,  and  the  wounds 
painted  over,  and  the  roots  be  placed  again  in  water, 
where  the  hairs  can  have  a  chance  to  absorb,  if  this  is 
their  office. 

Root-hairs  are  found  only  on  the  newer  parts  of 
roots ;  and  these  are  therefore  the  only  active  ab 
sorbents  of  dilute  aqueous  solutions. 


28 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


IV  LEAVES. 

The  dilute  solutions  just  spoken  of  are  carried  through 
the  older  parts  of  the  root  up  to  the  stem,  and  through 
the  stem  to  the  leaves  and  other  green  surfaces.  Here 
some  very  interesting  changes  take  place,  a  few  of 
which  can  be  made  plain,  even  to  young  children,  if 
they  have  faithfully  worked  out  the  subjects  up  to  this 
point. 

Green  leaves  are  generally  so  constructed  that  water 
evaporates  readily  from  their  substance.  This  exhala¬ 
tion  (although  it  is  something  more  than  mere  evapo¬ 
ration)  can  be  shown  by  a  very  simple  experiment, 
devised  by  Professor  Henslow,  and  which  will  be  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  words  of  Professor  Oliver’s  Botany, 
P-  !5  :  — 

“  Exposure  to  sunlight,  as  well  as  dryness  of  the 
air,  has  to  do  with  this  evaporation  of  water  from 
the  leaves.  Take  six  or  eight  of  the  largest,  healthiest 
leaves  you  can  find,  two  tumblers,  filled  to  within  an 
inch  of  the  top  with  water,  two  empty,  dry  tumblers, 
and  two  pieces  of  card,  each  large  enough  to  cover 
the  mouth  of  a  tumbler.  In  the  middle  of  each  card 
bore  three  or  four  small  holes,  just  wide  enough  to 
allow  the  petiole  of  a  leaf  to  pass  through.  Let  the 
petioles  hang  sufficiently  deep  into  the  water  when 
the  cards  are  put  upon  the  tumblers  containing  it. 
Having  arranged  matters  thus,  turn  the  empty  tumblers 
upside  down,  one  over  each  card,  so  as  to  cover  the 
blade  of  the  leaves.  Place  one  pair  of  tumblers  in 
the  sunshine,  the  other  pair  in  a  shady  place.  In  five 
or  ten  minutes,  examine  the  inverted  tumblers.  That 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


29 


exposed  to  the  sun  you  will  find  already  lined  with 
dew  on  its  cool  side,  while  that  kept  out  of  the  sun  is 
still  nearly  or  quite  clear.  It  is  manifest,  therefore, 
that  evaporation  from  the  leaves  must  be  not  only 
rapid,  but  considerable  in  amount,  when  plants  are 
exposed  to  the  sun  or  a  dry  atmosphere.” 

By  the  evaporation,  or  transpiration,  as  it  is  called, 
which  goes  on  from  green  leaves,  the  dilute  solutions 
which  have  been  raised  to  the  foliage  become  more 
concentrated.  The  transpiration  is  governed  largely 
by  delicately  balanced  valves,  which  are  chiefly  on  the 
under  surface  of  the  leaves. 

Whether  it  is  best  to  try  to  explain  to  the  pupils  the 
structure  of  these  valves,  or  stomata,  must  be  left  to 
each  teacher. 

It  would  seem  advisable  to  pass  by  the  subject  un¬ 
touched,  unless  the  teacher  has  become  reasonably 
familiar  with  it  by  practical  microscopical  study  of 
leaves.  For  a  teacher  to  endeavor  to  explain  the 
complex  structure  of  the  leaf,  without  having  seen 
it  for  himself,  is  open  to  the  same  objection  which 
could  be  urged  against  the  attempted  explanation  of 
complicated  machinery  by  one  who  has  never  seen  it, 
but  has  heard  about  it.  What  is  here  said  in  regard  to 
stomata  applies  to  all  the  more  recondite  matters  con¬ 
nected  with  plant  structure. 

Within  the  tissue  of  green  leaves,  there  can  be  found 
under  the  microscope  granules  of  a  leaf-green 
substance  called  chlorophyll.  Under  the  influ- 
ence  of  sunlight,  carbon  dioxide,  a  gas  which 
exists  as  an  impurity  in  the  atmosphere,  and  which 
is  readily  taken  up  by  green  leaves,  undergoes,  together 


3° 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


with  the  water  within  the  leaf,  changes  which  end  in 
the  formation  of  starch  or  something  very  much  like  it. 
While  such  an  operation  is  going  on,  oxygen  is  given 
off  by  the  leaves.  The  relations  of  oxygen  and  carbon 
dioxide  to  animal  respiration  are  to  be  pointed  out  to 
the  pupils  ;  and  it  is  to  be  made  clear  that  the  evolu¬ 
tion  of  oxygen  from  green  leaves  goes  on  only  in  the 
light.  In  all  its  kinds  of  activity,  except  that  of  leaf- 
green  in  sunlight,  the  plant  takes  in  oxygen  and 
gives  off  carbon  dioxide.  But  the  work  of  leaf-green 
in  sunlight,  namely,  the  conversion  of  inorganic  matter 
into  organic  substance,  is  the  chief  work  of  the  com¬ 
mon  plants  about  which  we  have  been  studying.  This 
work  is  assimilation.  The  description  of  this  process, 
and  its  relations  to  growth,  are  very  clearly  stated  in  Dr. 
Gray’s  “  How  Plants  Grow,”  and  in  his  “  Lessons  in 
Botany.” 

The  assimilated  product  made  by  green  leaves  in 
sunlight  is  stored  up  in  many  forms  and  in  many  places, 
such  as  roots,  stems  under  and  above  ground,  leaves, 
and  seeds.  It  is  used  for  many  purposes,  chiefly  the 
following  :  making  wood,  and  the  like,  building  up  new 
parts,  forming  flowers,  and  making  seeds.  Some  of 
these  kinds  of  work  are  to  be  briefly  examined. 

To  sum  up  the  work  of  green  tissues,  whether  on 
the  stem  or  in  leaves  themselves,  it  may  be  said  that 
they  lift  dilute  solutions  from  the  roots  to  the  light  and 
air,  there  concentrating  them  ;  that  they  are  the  facto¬ 
ries  where  starch  or  something  very  similar  is  made. 
To  point  out  the  many  beautiful  adaptations  to  these 
purposes  by  different  exposures,  positions,  and  shapes, 


COMMON’  PLANTS. 


3l 


will  furnish  to  every  teacher  conversant  with  the  facts 
very  abundant  material  for  interesting  talks. 

If  a  school-room  window  has  plenty  of  plants  with 
green  foliage,  some  of  them  will  exhibit  movements  of 
leaf-stalks  and  stems  in  response  to  light,  and  these 
movements  are  well  worth  watching. 

Lastly,  it  may  be  said  that,  although  plants  give  off 
carbon  dioxide  in  the  dark,  the  amount  is  trifling,  and 
in  the  case  mentioned  above  cannot  seriously  affect 
the  atmosphere  of  the  room.  The  windowful  of 
plants  can  do  no  harm. 


V.  SOME  OF  THE  RELATIONS  OF  PLANTS  TO 

THE  SOIL. 

When  the  trunk  of  a  tree  or  the  stem  of  an  herba¬ 
ceous  plant  is  carefully  burned  in  the  open  air,  there 
remains  behind  a  certain  amount  of  rusty-gray 
ashes.  This  substance  represents  the  mineral  ^j>od- 
matters  taken  in  solution  by  the  roots,  and  now 
changed  somewhat  by  combustion.  Some  plants  con¬ 
tain  more  of  this  mineral  matter  than  do  others,  but  all 
of  them  have  a  trace ;  and  there  is  a  substantial  agree¬ 
ment  in  the  chemical  elements  of  the  ash  of  different 
plants.  Some  of  the  elements  which  have  been  de¬ 
tected  in  the  ash  are  Iron,  Potassium,  Calcium,  Mag¬ 
nesium,  Phosphorus,  and  Sulphur.  These  exist  in 
composition  in  the  ash, — for  instance,  the  Potassium  is 
there  a  carbonate  ;  but  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
existed  in  the  plant,  and  how  they  were  there  com¬ 
pounded,  authors  are  not  exactly  agreed.  Nor  is  it 
precisely  known  what  part  each  plays  in  the  life  and 
health  of  the  plant.  There  is  good  reason  for  believing 
that  Iron  is  indispensable  to  the  efficiency  of  chloro- 


<  \ 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


{ 


32 


phyll,  and  that  the  salts  of  Potassium  have  much  to  do 
with  the  production  of  starch.  Besides  the  substances 
just  mentioned,  some  compound  of  Nitrogen  is  essen¬ 
tial  to  the  growth  of  plants ;  and  this  is  furnished  like¬ 
wise  through  the  roots.  If,  therefore,  it  is  desired  to 
have  plants  grow  in  a  healthy  and  vigorous  manner, 
they  must  not  only  be  placed  under  the  requisite  phy¬ 
sical  conditions,  but  good  food  in  proper  amount  must 
be  furnished. 

Plants,  as  we  have  already  seen,  obtain  their  carbon 
from  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  atmosphere.  The  soil 
furnishes  other  kinds  of  matter  used  as  plant- 
food.1'  food.  Although  the  germinating  seeds  can  thrive 
in  sand  for  a  while,  it  is  because  they  can  use 
the  good  store  of  food  laid  up  for  them  by  the  plant  on 
which  they  ripened.  And,  even  after  this  store  is  gone, 
they  will  do  pretty  well  for  a  time  ;  but  sooner  or  later 
they  need  something  better  than  sand  to  live  in.  Now 
sand  is  a  very  good  mechanical  support  for  sprouting 
seeds,  if  the  seedlings  are  to  be  studied ;  for  it  is  the 
most  cleanly.  But,  if  the  plants  are  to  be  raised  from 
seed  for  the  purpose  of  studying  them  in  all  their  stages 
of  growth,  it  will  be  better  to  procure  some  good  soil  at 
a  florist’s  greenhouse.  Flower-pots  six  or  eight  inches 
in  diameter  are  large  enough  for  the  cultivation  of  such 
plants  as  are  adapted  to  school-room  study.  In  flower¬ 
pots  of  this  size,  it  is  perfectly  easy,  for  instance,  to 
raise  good  plants  of  Morning-glory  to  exhibit  the  twining 
movements  of  stems,  and  Sensitive  Plant  to  demonstrate 
the  “sleep,”  “waking,”  and  sensitiveness.  The  plants 
may  not  prove  to  be  as  symmetrical  as  those  raised  by 
an  accomplished  florist ;  but  they  will  answer  a  good 


{ 


COMMON  PLANTS . 


33 


purpose  in  the  school-room,  for  they  are  plants  which 
the  pupils  have  watched  from  the  beginning  of  the 
growth.  To  show  how  small  a  part  is  taken  in  certain 
cases  by  the  mineral  constituents  of  plant-food,  it  may 
be  well  to  call  to  mind  one  of  the  earliest  experiments 
upon  the  subject  of  vegetable  nutrition.*  Van 
Helmont  placed  in  a  proper  receptacle  exactly  Van^Hei. 
two  hundred  pounds  of  carefully  dried  soil,  and  periment. 
then  planted  therein  a  willow,  which  weighed 
just  five  pounds.  The  soil  was  enclosed  by  a  cover  so 
that  no  dust  from  outside  could  reach  it ;  and  it  was 
kept  moist  with  enough  water  as  occasion  required,  for 
five  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  the  willow  was  re¬ 
moved,  and  the  soil  separated  carefully  from  the  roots. 
The  willow  weighed  then  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 
pounds  ;  but  the  soil,  again  thoroughly  dried,  as  at  first, 
had  lost  only  two  ounces  !  Although  the  experiment 
was  not  conducted  with  the  exactness  which  character¬ 
izes  modern  research,  it  was  a  very  excellent  one  for 
the  time  in  which  it  was  performed.  It  must  be  added 
that  Van  Helmont  erroneously  concluded  that  the  plant 
had  taken  all  its  nourishment  from  the  water,  whereas 
we  know  to-day  that  the  plant  obtains  from  the  atmos¬ 
phere  a  large  part  of  the  material  out  of  which  its  struc¬ 
ture  is  made.  Before  entering  upon  the  use  of  plant- 
food  in  building,  it  is  best  to  glance  at  the  different 
ways  in  which  a  part  of  the  elaborated  substances  arc 
held  in  reserve. 


*  From  page  493  of  Geschichte  der  F.otanik,  by  Professor 
Sachs.  The  experiment  was  made  about  300  years  ago. 


34 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


VI.  FOOD  HELD  IN  RESERV  E. 

We  may  speak  of  the  carbon-dioxide  taken  from  the 
itmosphere,  the  water  from  the  soil,  and  the  mineral 
matters  therefrom  obtained,  as  the  food  of  the  plant ; 
but  it  is  better  on  all  accounts  to  speak  of  the  first 
elaborated  matter  formed  in  the  foliage  under  condi¬ 
tions  now  described  as  the  proper  food  for  the  nutrition 
of  the  plant.  Some  plants  are  like  spendthrifts.  They 
use  up  all  this  food  as  fast  as  it  is  made,  and  do  not 
lay  up  much  or  even  any  of  it.  The  annual  plants 
treasure  up  a  little  of  this  food  in  the  seeds,  but  plants 
which  are  to  live  through  more  than  one  year  keep 
more  or  less  food  in  reserve  in  some  safe  place. 

The  food  may  be  stored  up  as  starch,  as  in  most  of 
the  thickened  fleshy  roots  and  underground  stems  or 
branches,  or  in  stems  above  ground,  or  even  in 
starch,  leaves.  The  starch  is  packed  away  in  the  form 
of  an  impalpable  powder  consisting  of  granules 
of  such  characteristic  form  that  its  source  can  be 
easily  identified  by  the  microscope.  Sago  and  tapioca 
are  starches  which  have  been  carefully  separated  from 
the  substance  of  the  plants  which  produced  them,  and 
the  former  has  become  somewhat  changed  by  the  pro¬ 
cess  of  manufacture.  The  laundry  starches  are  largely 
from  potato,  or  from  wheat.  Starch  in  woody  stems 
like  that  of  the  maple  in  early  winter  is  lodged  in  the 
less  dense  part,  and  here  it  is  read'  to  be  changed  into 
syrup  at  the  coming  of  spring.  Starch  can  be  very 
readily  detected  by  the  blue  color  which  it  gives  when 
brought  in  contact  with  a  dilute  solution  of  iodine. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


35 


Another  less  usual  form  in  which  food  is  stored 
in  reserve  is  sugar.  This  is  its  form  in  the  stem  of 
sugar-cane,  and  in  the  fleshy  root  of  the  sugar- 
beet.  When  sugar  is  properly  made  from  these  Sugar 
two  sources,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  be¬ 
tween  them.  Of  the  forms  of  sugar  other  than  cane 
sugar,  as  it  is  called,  nothing  can  now  be  said  further  than 
to  point  out  their  occurrence  in  fruits  and  exception¬ 
ally  in  stems.  There  are  still  other  forms  in  which  food 
is  packed  away  in  plants  ready  for  use  ;  but  their  con¬ 
sideration  would  not  be  desirable  in  this  short  guide. 
It  is  enough  to  note  now  that  the  reserve  material  is 
packed  safely,  and  when  wanted  it  is  within  reach. 
And  next  it  must  be  seen  how  it  is  used  in  building,  or 
in  growth. 

VII.  PLANT-GROWTH  IN  GENERAL. 

Plant  structure  consists  of  minute  cells  of  different 
shapes,  variously  arranged  and  compacted.  Plant 
growth  consists  in  the  production  of  new  cells,  and 
their  increase  in  size,  at  the  cost  of  material  prepared 
by  foliage. 

Of  course,  this  elaborated  material  must  undergo 
many  changes  before  it  can  be  used  for  the  building 
up  of  new  cells.  So  far  as  shapes  of  cells  are 
concerned,  it  is  now  necessary  to  refer  to  only  Shce£°f 
three  principal  forms  :  ist,  spherical,  or  nearly 
spherical,  these  are  generally  compressed  somewhat 
into  polyhedrons  by  contact  with  other  cells  (as  in  the 
pith  of  Elder)  ;  2d,  elongated  cells,  which  may  be 
either  cylindrical  or  spindle-shaped,  that  is,  tapering  at 


( 


36  CONCERNING  A  FEW 

both  ends  (as  in  wood-cells)  ;  3d,  flattened  cells  oi 
many  sorts. 

When  the  wall  of  a  cell  is  first  formed,  it  is  ver) 
delicate.  In  most  cases,  it  speedily  undergoes  change: 

in  its  thickness  and  toughness.  The  thicken- 
lai!.ce11"  seldom  even.  Its  irregularities  therefore 

give  rise  to  dots  and  pits  and  pores,  and 
many  curious  markings ;  but  these  can  be  seen  only 
under  the  microscope,  and  need  not  be  further  spoken 
of  here.  It  is  enough  to  observe  now  that  the  thick- 
walled  cells  in  plants  are  generally  of  the  second  sort ; 
that  is,  they  are  elongated.  They  become  sometimes 
very  long  and  tough,  and  have  only  a  small  cavity,  or 
none  at  all,  within  :  these  are  called  fibres.  The  other 
long  thickish-walled  cells,  which  are  rather  more  brit¬ 
tle,  are,  with  all  their  varieties,  called  wood-cells.  An 
interesting  form  of  wood-cell  gives  rise  by  its  develop¬ 
ment  to  what  are  known  as  ducts.  The  cells  are 
formed  in  chains,  and  the  partitions  between  the  cells 
break  down,  leaving  a  jointed  tube  or  duct.  Another 
very  common  form  of  wood-cell  is  spindle-shaped 
and  flattened. 

To  trace  out  the  development  of  all  these  fibres  and 
wood-cells,  from  the  simple  kind  from  which  they  rise, 
is  a  task  wholly  foreign  to  the  present  work, 
wood-cell^.  It  is  enough  to  state  that  these  cells,  which 
in  their  varied  forms  give  rise  to  the  complex 
fabric  of  plants,  are  marshalled  in  definite  order.  Only 
a  few  of  the  more  frequent  modes  of  arrangement  are 
now  to  be  mentioned,  and  these  only  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  that  a  study  of  our  common  woods  and 
barks,  even  without  the  aid  of  a  lens,  may  be  practi¬ 
cable  in  our  schools. 


1 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


37 


Plants  which  do  not  have  woody  stems  are  not  at 
present  to  be  considered.  The  herbs  which  have  only 
very  imperfectly  formed  wood,  and  the  plants  whose 
tender  soft-wooded  stems  are  killed  by  the  frost,  are  to  be 
left  out  of  account.  Any  shoots  of  our  trees  or  hardy 
shrubs  with  thick  bark  are  available  for  illustration  of 
the  present  subject.  Willow,  Poplar,  Elm,  Horse- 
Chestnut,  Maple,  or  Ash  will  answer  perfectly.  If  the 
newest  part  of  the  shoot  is  compared  with  that  pro¬ 
duced  two  or  three  years  before,  it  will  be  seen  to  differ 
in  many  respects.  In  the  latter,  the  pith  is  less  con¬ 
spicuous,  there  are  other  rings  outside  the  first  circle 
of  wood,  the  bark  has  a  firmer  lining  and  a  rougher 
exterior.  Compare  this  older  shoot  with  one  which  is 
five  or  more  years  older  still,  and  the  differences  are 
more  manifest.  The  outside  layer  is  made  up  of  a 
sort  of  cork  which  is  beginning  to  crack  here  and 
there,  giving  to  the  bark  a  very  irregular  sur- 
face.  This  outer  layer  consisting  of  cork 
might  be  taken  from  the  plant  without  any  injury,  if 
carefully  done.  The  cork-bark  of  commerce,  a  very 
thick  layer  of  this  kind,  is  taken  off  from  live  trees  ol 
the  Cork  Oak  in  this  way ;  and  then  the  trees  produce 
another  belt  of  cork,  to  be  removed  in  a  few  years 
more.  The  number  of  years  can  be  easily  counted 
from  their  record  in  the  compact  layers. 

The  inside  layer  of  the  bark  consists  of  fibres  which 
are  frequently  so  conjoined  as  to  form  a  kind  of  lace, 
fine  in  the  lace-bark  of  the  West  Indies, 
coarse  in  our  Linden.  The  fibres  of  Linden 
constitute  bast-matting  or  Russia-matting.  The  fibres 
of  hemp  for  cordage,  of  jute  and  flax  ready  fo?  spin 


33 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


ning,  are  bast-fibres  which  have  been  detached  from 
the  rest  of  the  plant  either  by  mechanical  means,  by 
chemical  processes,  or  by  what  amounts  to  pretty  much 
the  same  thing  as  the  latter,  decomposition.  With  the 
one  marked  exception  of  cotton,  which  consists  of 
the  plant-hairs  on  cotton-seeds,  the  textile  fibres  of 
the  arts  are  bast-fibres.  Indian  Corn,  Bamboo,  and 
Rattan  have  their  bast-fibres,  with  groups  of  wood- 
cells  and  ducts,  scattered  all  through  the  stem,  but 
ending  for  the  most  part  at  its  very  outside,  here  form¬ 
ing  a  dense  cylinder  not  separable  from  the  rest  of  the 
stem.  In  these  cases,  the  distinct  clusters  of  bast-fibres 
and  ducts  are  packed  firmly  by  means  of  spherical 
cells.  The  bast-fibres  in  the  thicker  leaves  of  plants 
of  this  sort  —  for  instance,  Century  Plant  and  New 
Zealand  Flax  —  are  easy  to  prepare  for  use  as  cordage, 
&c.,  and  they  are  strong  and  good. 

For  the  present  purpose  it  may  be  said  that  the 
wood  used  in  the  arts  is  of  two  kinds,  namely,  that 

which  consists  only  of  wood-cells,  properly  so 
wo°d-  „  ,  ,  .  '  .  .  .  .  V  v  , 

called,  and  that  which  has  also  ducts  either 

large  or  small.  The  wood  of  the  coniferous  trees  has 
no  ducts,  except  sometimes  at  the  very  centre  :  it  is 
made  up  of  spindle-shaped  cells,  which  are  more  ot 
less  flattened.  Such  woods  as  Oak,  Ash,  and  Elm 
have  proper  wood-cells  and  ducts  besides,  in  many- 
instances  the  latter  are  very  conspicuous,  and  give  to 
the  cross-section  of  the  stem  an  open,  porous  look. 
Certain  differences  in  the  character  of  the  wood-cells 
and  the  ducts,  probably  depending  upon  varying  press¬ 
ure  exerted  by  the  bark,  are  observable  between  those 
formed  in  summer  and  in  autumn.  These  differences 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


39 


are  often  clearly  marked,  and  give  rise  to  the  well- 
known  rings  of  wood.  The  thickness  of  the  rings  de¬ 
notes  the  amount  of  wood  made  during  a  single 
year.  The  new  wood  is  made  by  the  multi- 
plication  of  closely  packed  cells  which  lie  be¬ 
tween  the  wood  and  the  bark.  These  layers  of  closely 
packed  cells  have  a  double  work.  Upon  one  side 
they  build  new  wood,  on  the  other  side  they  lay  down 
a  new  film  of  inner  bark  or  bast.  In  the  spring,  when 
these  layers  (the  cambium  or  meristem)  begin  their 
work  of  forming  new  tissues,  they  constitute  the  juicy 
and  sweetish  substance  found  under  the  bark.  The 
sweetness  results  from  the  presence  of  a  kind  of  sugar 
which  is  made  at  that  time  from  the  stored-up  starch. 
Removal  of  the  cambium,  of  course,  prevents  the 
production  of  any  more  new  wood  or  bast  at  the  place 
of  injury.  Often,  however,  if  the  wound  caused  by  its 
removal  is  not  too  grave,  it  may  be  healed  over  by  thin 
films  of  freshly  made  cork. 

A  very  slight  examination  shows  that  the  width  of  the 
year’s  wood  varies  considerably  in  different  years,  and 
on  different  sides  of  the  stem.  Moreover,  the  wood 
nearer  the  centre  is  denser  than  that  just  under  the 
bark  ;  the  former  is  the  heart- wood,  the  latter  is  the  sap- 
wood,  and  is  the  last  formed.  In  some  stems,  the 
irregularities  in  the  rings  are  very  striking :  in  one  case 
pointed  out  by  President  Chad  bourne,  the  parts  of  two 
rings  are  sometimes  confluent.  Radiating  from 
a  point  not  far  from  the  centre,  many  very 
slender  lines  run  in  a  somewhat  broken  manner 
out  to  the  bark.  These  are  the  pith-rays.  They  lie 
between  the  wedges  of  wood,  and,  when  they  are  seen 


4o 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


in  section,  appear  as  shining  surfaces.  These  consti¬ 
tute  the  silver-grain  of  wood.  Here,  then,  are  two 
things,  each  of  which  will  look  very  differently  in  differ¬ 
ent  slices  of  wood.  Pieces  of  wood  cut  in  different 
ways  will  be  found  to  be  frequently  puzzling,  but  useful 
objects  of  study.  The  student  is  to  identify  the  silver- 
grain  planes,  or  the  pith-ray  lines,  and  to  make  use  of 
these  in  connection  with  the  circles  of  which  they  are 
radii,  to  ascertain  certain  facts  respecting  the  speci¬ 
men.  For  instance,  suppose  a  small  prismatic  block  of 
wood,  cut  from  an  oak  stem  which  is  twenty  inches  in 
diameter :  it  will  exhibit  on  its  different  sides  different 
exposures  of  the  rings,  or  cylinders,  and  the  pith-rays, 
or  planes ;  and  from  an  examination  of  these  it  will  be 
possible  to  detect  the  place  from  which  the  block  was 
taken.  The  difference  in  color  between  the  heart- 
wood  (the  older)  and  the  sap-wood  (the  newer),  the 
differences  in  size  between  the  inner  and  the  outer 
circles,  afford  easy  marks  by  which  the  position  of  the 
block  with  respect  to  the  stem  can  be  ascertained.  If 
the  plane  sides  of  the  block  are  not  at  right  angles  to 
each  other,  the  problem  becomes  more  difficult ;  but 
it  is  always  an  interesting  one.  Questions  respecting 
the  position  which  a  block  or  a  board  must  have  had 
in  the  log  from  which  the  piece  has  been  cut  will 
generally  be  found  within  the  reach  of  most  of  the 
pupils  except  the  youngest. 

The  specimens  *  which  have  been  furnished  to  illus- 

*  Mr.  Charles  W.  Spurr,  522  Harrison  Avenue,  Boston, 
prepared,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  subject  of  Veneers, 
500  packages  of  excellent  specimens  of  the  following  woods: 
Tulip-tree  or  Whitewood,  Rosewood.  Ash,  Oak,  Pine,  Mahog 


COMMON  PLANTS . 


41 


trate  the  subject  of  texture  of  woods  are  known  in  the 
arts  as  Veneers.  These  are  thin  slices  of  wood, 
cut  for  the  purpose  of  displaying  the  charac-  Veneers, 
teristic  texture  or  grain,  and  which  are  to  be 
securely  glued  to  cheaper  woods.  Specimens  prepared 
in  this  manner  exhibit  very  beautifully  most  of  the 
features  which  have  been  referred  to  under  the  subject 
of  circles  and  silver-grain. 

The  branches  which  fall  off  from  decay  or  are  broken 
off  by  injury  leave  roughish  projections,  which  sooner 
or  later  are  healed  over  by  the  subsequent 
growth  of  the  stem.  The  buried  trace  of  the  Knots, 
branch  remains  as  a  concealed  knot,  and  fre¬ 
quently  disturbs  for  a  while  the  regularity  of  the  wood 
formed  in  its  immediate  proximity.  When  the  branches 
are  small  and  exceedingly  numerous,  —  especially  if 
they  are  short  and  hard,  as  if  the  buds  from  which  they 
sprang  had  given  rise  only  to  a  blunt  thorn,  —  the  dis¬ 
turbance  of  the  layers  of  wood  produces  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  ornamental  woods. 

When  the  terminal  buds  of  the  main  stem  and  of  the 
branches  of  our  trees  expand  fully  for  the  season,  their 
growth  in  length  is  arrested.  The  growth  of  the 
stem  or  branches  in  length  in  the  following  height, 
year  is  solely  by  the  expansion  of  new  buds. 

If  two  nails  are  driven  into  a  stem,  at  a  definite  dis¬ 
tance  from  each  other,  that  distance  will  ever  afterwards 
remain  the  same.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 

any,  Walnut,  Butternut,  Maple,  Cedar,  Birch,  Cherry,  Elm,  and 
Holly.  Many  of  these  were  in  duplicate,  exhibiting  both  plain 
and  figured  texture.  The  specimens,  more  than  ten  thousand 
in  all,  were  gratuitously  presented  to  the  Class  by  Mr.  Spurr 


42 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


that  the  shape  of  a  tree  is  constantly  changing  yeai 
after  year,  from  the  loss  of  branches,  chiefly  the  lower 
and  shaded  ones,  which  do  not  have  a  fair  chance ; 
and  so  the  main  trunk  appears  to  carry  the  crown  of 
branches  higher  and  higher  up.  The  relations  of  the 
position  of  buds  to  the  ultimate  shape  of  the  tree,  and 
of  the  relative  strength  and  vigor  of  buds  to  the  form 
at  last  attained,  are  easily  observed  with  a  little  care. 
It  is  worth  the  while  of  any  teacher  to  call  attention  to 
the  spire-like  and  the  spray-like  forms  of  shade-trees, 
and  to  ask  the  pupils  to  compare  the  grown  tree  with 
its  plan  laid  down  upon  a  branch  with  buds.  It  is 
comparing  a  finished  building  with  the  sketch  made 
before  it  was  erected. 


VIII.  THE  FLOWER. 

A  flower  is  a  branch  with  leaves  for  the  production 
of  seeds.  It  is  easy  to  find  fault  with  every  definition 
of  so  diversified  a  mechanism  as  a  flower,  but  the  defi¬ 
nition  just  given  will  answer  our  present  purpose  very 
well.  On  page  23,  it  is  stated  that,  “since  whatever 
springs  from  a  bud  is  some  sort  of  a  branch,  a  flower 
developed  from  a  flower-bud  must  be  a  branch  too. 
And  so  it  is.  The  helpful  parts  are  here  arranged  in  a 
very  regular  manner,  and  many  of  them  are  greatly 
changed  in  form  and  work.” 

A  blossom  may  be  examined  from  many  different 
points  of  view  :  of  these,  three  will  now  be  mentioned. 

1.  A  flower  may  be  regarded  as  a  complicated  mech¬ 
anism  made  up  of  simple  parts.  Considered  as  a  branch. 


COMMON  PLANTS.  43 

a  flower  must  be  looked  upon  as  a  very  short  one, 
with  the  leaves  crowded  together  into  circles 
or  into  much  depressed  spirals.  First  of  all,  MoJy°1' 
then,  it  is  desirable  to  separate  the  parts  of  the 
crowded  branch  a  little,  so  that  their  relations  can  be 
better  seen.  For  this  purpose,  in  ordinary  cases,  the 
following  plate  will  be  found  useful.  Begin  with  a 


Crassula,  or  some  good  regular  flower,  and  place  each 
part  of  each  circle  of  the  blossom  in  its  corresponding 
place  in  one  of  the  circles  of  the  diagram. 

For  instance,  if  the  flower  is  on  the  plan  of  three, 
the  parts  of  the  outer  circle  (calyx)  must  be  placed 
120°  apart;  the  parts  of  the  next  circle  (corolla)  120° 
from  each  other,  alternating  with  the  last ;  the  stamens 


44 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


come  next ;  and,  lastly,  the  carpels,  or  the  fruit-leaves 
(constituting  the  pistil)  ;  and  the  members  of  the  cir¬ 
cles  will  have  definite  relations  to  one  another.  On 
the  plan  of  five,  the  parts  in  one  circle  will  be  720 
apart ;  on  the  plan  of  four,  90°. 

Now  suppose  we  have  a  complete  and  regular  flower 
with  five  members  in  each  circle  or  whorl.  Let  the 
parts  be  separated,  and  placed  in  their  proper  order 
on  the  circles  of  the  diagram,  where  they  will  again 
make  up  a  complete  and  regular  blossom.  When  this 
has  been  done,  take  away  one  of  the  stamens.  Has  it 
disturbed  the  relation  of  parts  ?  Obviously  not :  the  place 
is  left.  Next  break  a  stamen  in  quarters,  and  replace 
one  of  these  fragments.  It  lies  in  its  proper  place  a 
mere  vestige  of  a  stamen,  but  the  relations  of  the  parts 
remain  the  same.  What  we  have  thus  done  with  the 
dissected  flower,  Nature  has  done  with  very  many. 
How  to  see  what  parts  have  been  lost,  or  what  remain 
only  as  traces,  is  a  very  interesting  study.  This  study 
is  much  more  difficult  when  the  parts  of  one  circle 
have  become  disproportionately  enlarged  on  one  side, 
or  the  parts  of  two  circles  have  grown  together  more 
or  less.  To  strip  off  these  disguises,  and  detect  the 
hidden  symmetry  of  arrangement,  is  the  attractive  task 
of  Morphology. 

For  schools,  the  simpler  flowers,  of  large  size,  are 
preferable  at  first.  Dog-tooth  Violets  (Erythronium) , 
Lilies,  Buttercups,  Laurel  ( Kalmia ),  Single 
o/flowers  and  so  on,  are  good  to  begin  with  ;  and 

these  are  to  be  dissected  upon  tablets,  as  above 
described,  and  as  each  part  is  removed  it  must  go  in 
its  corresponding  place.  There  is  not  an  easier  method 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


45 


of  exhibiting  the  relations  of  position  of  the  parts  of 
flowers  than  the  one  here  recommended.  Even  young 
pupils  can  remove  the  sepals,  petals,  stamens,  and  car¬ 
pels, —  even  if  they  have  not  been  told  the  names, — • 
and  rearrange  them  in  the  proper  order.  After  a  while, 
let  the  names  of  the  parts  be  given,  and  these  will 
speedily  become  familiar.  When  practice  in  this  has 
been  sufficient,  three  questions  are  to  be  asked  con¬ 
cerning  every  flower  thus  analyzed  :  — 

1.  How  many  parts  are  there  in  each  circle,  and 
how  are  they  arranged? 

2.  How  are  the  parts  of  the  same  circle  united  to¬ 
gether? 

3.  How  are  different  circles  united? 

The  study  of  flowers  for  the  purpose  of  answering 
these  questions  may  be  made  the  best  practice  in  obser¬ 
vation  which  Botany  affords.  The  pupils  must  be  made 
to  understand  that,  at  this  period  of  their  progress,  no 
help  is  to  be  expected  from  the  teacher :  the  answers 
must  be  found  in  the  flower.  To  indicate  how  exhaus¬ 
tive  and  how  far-reaching  these  three  inquiries  are,  we 
will  apply  them  to  a  single  illustrative  case.  1st,  There 
are  five  sepals  alternating  with  five  petals  ;  five  stamens 
opposite  the  petals,  and  none  alternate  with  them ; 
more  than  one  carpel,  probably  five,  though  the  latter 
fact  is  hard  to  make  out.  2d,  The  five  sepals  are 
united  more  than  midway;  the  petals  are  united  to¬ 
gether,  hence  the  corolla  is  monopetalous  ;  the  stamens 
are  separate ;  the  carpels  are  united  to  form  a  pistil 
with  a  single  style  and  one-celled  ovary  with  ovules  in 
centre.  3d,  The  stamens  are  borne  on  the  regular 
corolla ;  the  calyx,  corolla,  ar  d  ovary  are  all  borne  on 


46 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


the  receptacle,  and  are  distinct  from  each  other.  Now 
apply  this  to  the  Analytical  Key  of  Dr.  Gray’s  School 
and  Field  Book,  and  it  will  be  found  that  we  can,  with¬ 
out  hesitation,  place  the  flower  under  the  following 
heads:  Flowering,  Exogenous  (plan  of  5),  Monope- 
talous,  Calyx  free  from  ovary,  Corolla  regular,  stamens 
is  many  as  the  corolla-lobes  and  opposite  them,  style 
only  one,  ovary  one-celled,  ovules  many  =  Order 
Priviulacece.  The  facts  elicited  by  the  questions  have 
been  gained  by  the  pupil  in  an  analysis  like 
analysis.^  this  by  independent  observation.  If  the 
pupil  reverses  this  process,  and  uses  the  key 
in  the  Botany  to  ask  the  questions  by,  he  is  adopting  a 
method  which  tempts  one  constantly  to  look  ahead  to 
see  how  “  the  plant  is  coming  out,”  as  the  phrase  is. 

If  there  is  the  slightest  prepossession  in  the  mind  in 
regard  to  the  probability  as  to  which  Order  the  plant 
belongs,  this  will  influence  the  judgment  about  every 
point  in  the  analytical  key.  It  will  lead,  sooner  or 
later,  to  a  weak,  careless,  unfair,  or  even  dishonest 
method  of  work.  An  analytical  key  is  an  artificial 
device  at  best,  —  a  sort  of  pick-lock,  to  save  time. 
It  may  be  used  after,  but  not  before,  the  three  ques¬ 
tions  above  spoken  of  have  been  answered ;  certainly 
not  while  the  questions  are  being  answered.  To  study 
a  plant  and  its  blossoms,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Morphology,  is  a  task  of  such  interest  and  value  for 
training  that  it  cannot  well  be  overrated.  To  thread 
one’s  way  through  the  mazes  of  an  analytical  key,  before 
the  structure  of  the  flower  in  hand  has  been  thoroughly 
mastered,  is  to  deal  with  a  puzzle  of  little  interest  and 
of  less  profit. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


47 


Another  method  of  arranging  the  answers  to  the 
questions  proposed  on  the  basis  of  Morphology  was 
suggested  by  Professor  Henslow,  and  embodied 
in  Professor  Oliver’s  Elementary  Botany.  An  Schedule*, 
illustration  will  suffice  :  — . 


Organs. 

No. 

Union  of  like 
Parts. 

Union  of  differ¬ 
ent  Circles. 

Calyx 

sepals 

5 

gamo-  or 
monosepalous 

free  from 
ovary. 

Corolla 

petals 

5 

gamo-  or 
monopetalous 

free. 

Stamens 

5 

distinct 

on  corolla  and 
opposite  its 
segments. 

Pistil 

carpels 

5 

united 

together 

free  from 
calyx. 

Seeds  numerous,  and  on  the  axis. 


L 


The  blank  schedule  here  filled  out  with  the  charac¬ 
ters  of  the  Order  Prhnulacece  consists  of  the  upper 
line,  denoting  the  value  of  the  several  columns,  and  the 
left-hand  column,  in  which  the  organs  are  enumerated. 
The  blanks  may  be  constructed  in  any  way  the  teacher 
may  choose,  provided  the  answers  to  be  written  in 
filling  them  up  bear  upon  the  number  and  relations,  as 
to  position  and  union,  of  the  parts  of  the  circles  of  the 
flower. 

2.  The  second  point  of  view  from  which  a  flower 
may  be  examined  is  that  of  Physiology.  A  flower  is  a 
mechanism  for  the  production  of  seeds.  All  parts, 


48 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


therefore,  which  are  directly  concerned  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  seeds,  must  be  taken  into  account. 
logy?10*  Even  the  floral  leaves  or  bracts,  which  are  only 
indirectly  tributary  to  the  formation  of  seeds, 
must  be  regarded.  The  outer  circles,  the  calyx  and 
corolla,  are  generally  termed  unessential,  because  they 
are  frequently  merely  protective,  while  the  stamens  and 
the  carpels  are  the  essential  parts.  The  carpels  contain 
the  ovules,  which  are  to  become  seeds ;  the  stamens 
furnish  the  pollen,  by  the  indirect  action  of  which  this 
change  is  to  be  brought  about.  Therefore,  we  might 
regard  the  ovules  and  the  pollen  as  the  only  essential 
parts  in  the  production  of  seeds.  Each  stamen  con¬ 
sists  of  an  anther,  which  is  often  supported  upon  a 
filament,  or  slender  thread.  “  The  anther  is  a  sac 
filled  with  pollen,  which  most  generally  is  like  fine  dust, 
but  which  is  shown  by  the  microscope  to  consist  of 
minute  grains  of  characteristic  shape,  size,  and  mark¬ 
ings.  The  pistil  is  made  up  of  one  or  more  carpels, 
distinct  or  more  or  less  completely  blended  together, 
and  usually  comprises  three  parts:  (i)  the  ovary, 
holding  the  ovules;  (2)  the  style,  surmounting  the 
ovary ;  and  (3)  the  stigma,  a  point,  or  knob,  or  line  of 
sticky  surface  at  the  side  or  summit  of  the  style.  The 
style  may  be  wholly  wanting.  When  the  pollen 

ization.  acts  uPon  the  stigma,  each  grain  may  send 
down,  after  a  time,  a  slender  tube,  which  at  last 
reaches  an  ovule.  Here  the  contents  of  the  tube  act 
in  some  way  upon  the  contents  of  a  cell,  or  a  group  of 
cells,  in  the  ovule,  in  which  a  new  development  begins, 
ending  in  the  production  of  an  embryo  plant.  The 
ripened  ovule  is  a  seed  ;  the  ripened  ovary,  with  its 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


51 


interest  than  the  investigation  of  color  in  flowers,  and 
the  insect  visitors.  Among  the  very  striking  features 
to  be  noticed  in  regard  to  colors  of  flowers  is  the  re¬ 
markable  one  that  outside  parts,  the  floral  leaves  or 
bracts,  often  share  or  even  monopolize  the  brilliancy 
and  attractiveness. 

Odors  are  in  general  indicative  of  the  presence 
of  nectar.  The  relations  of  color  to  fragrance,  and 
both  to  the  nectar  which  they  advertise,  will  be 
found  very  attractive  studies.  Children  can  also  be 
very  intently  absorbed  by  an  unaided  examination  of 
the  ways  in  which  nectar  is  protected  from  injury  by 
rain.  The  keen-sighted  German,  Sprengel,  who  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century  first  called  attention  to  the  visits 
of  insects  to  flowers  in  their  search  for  food,  observed 
especially  the  modes  of  nectar  protection.  One  of 
these  ways,  described  in  his  quaint  language,  is  here 
spoken  of.  This  case  possesses  much  interest,  for  it 
appears  to  have  been  the  one  which  earliest  attracted 
him  to  this  branch  of  investigation. 

“  When,  in  the  summer  of  1787, 1  carefully  examined 
the  flower  of  Wood  Geranium  (  Geranium  sylvaticum) , 
I  discovered  that  the  lowest  part  of  its  petals  was  pro¬ 
vided  on  the  inner  side  and  on  both  edges  with  fine, 
soft  hairs.  Convinced  that  the  wise  Author  of  nature 
has  not  made  even  a  single  hair  without  a  definite  de¬ 
sign,  I  reflected  upon  the  purpose  which  these  hairs 
might  serve.  And  it  then  occurred  to  me  that  if  we 
suppose  that  the  five  drops  of  nectar,  secreted  from  as 
many  glands,  are  designed  for  the  nourishment  of  cer¬ 
tain  insects,  it  might  not  be  improbable  that  provision 
had  been  made  to  keep  the  nectar  from  injury  by  rain, 
and  that  these  hairs  are  employed  to  attain  this  end.  .  . 


52 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


Each  drop  of  nectar  rests  on  its  gland  immediately 
under  the  hairs  which  occur  on  the  edges  of  two  con¬ 
tiguous  petals.  Since  the  flower  stands  erect  and  is 
pretty  large,  it  must  catch  rain-drops  whenever  it  rains. 
But  none  of  the  drops  which  fall  in  can  reach  the 
nectar  and  mingle  with  it,  for  they  are  kept  out  by  the 
hairs  which  cover  it,  just  as  the  drops  of  perspiration 
which  fall  from  the  forehead  are  retained  by  the  eye¬ 
brow  and  eye-lashes  and  kept  from  getting  into  the  eye. 
And  yet  an  insect  is  not  hindered  in  the  slightest  from 
reaching  the  nectar.  I  next  examined  other  flowers,  and 
found  that  they  had  something  in  their  structure  differ¬ 
ent  from  the  first,  but  which  seemed  to  answer  the  same 
purpose.  The  further  I  prosecuted  this  investigation, 
the  more  plainly  I  saw  that  those  flowers  which  possess 
nectar  are  so  constructed  that,  although  insects  can 
easily  get  to  it,  the  rain  cannot  injure  it.  Thereupon,  1 
concluded  that  the  nectar  of  those  flowers  is  secreted 
chiefly  for  the  sake  of  insects,  and  is  protected  against 
the  rain  so  that  they  can  enjoy  it  pure  and  uninjured.”  * 

It  will  also  be  found  that  children  are  greatly  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  group  of  phenomena  known  as  the  sleep 
Sleep  and  and  waking  of  plants.  Flowers  of  some  species 
pfflowers  °f  Oxalis  exhibit  this  very  well  under  cultivation, 
and  leaves.  and  COuld  be  systematically  observed,  only  the 
waking  takes  place  long  before  school-hours.  In  some 
instances,  the  closing  of  flowers,  which  are  to  open 
again,  appears  to  protect  the  pollen  from  night 
dampness.  It  may  be  here  noted  that  pupils  who  can 
visit  such  gardens  and  wild  fields  as  are  accessible  neai 
a  large  city,  might  with  a  little  pains  ascertain  what 
plants  open  and  shut  their  blossoms  at  given  hours, 


*  Das  F.ntdeckte  Geheimniss  der  Natur,  1793,  P*  2* 


COMMON  SLANTS. 


53 


and  what  flowers  close  at  the  approach  of  bad  weather. 
Facts  like  these  brought  to  school,  and  fresh  from  the 
lips  of  the  young  observers  themselves,  possess  a 
wonderful  attractiveness  for  teacher  and  all  the  pupils 
alike. 

3.  Flowers  afford  evidence  of  the  degrees  of  kin¬ 
ship  among  the  higher  plants.  The  detection  of  the 
relationships  belongs  to  Systematic  Botany. 
Systematic  Botanists  rely  upon  the  degree  of 
resemblance  as  indicative  of  the  degree  of  re¬ 
lationship  ;  but  the  features  which  they  take  into  con¬ 
sideration  are  not  generally  those  which  strike  the  eye 
at  first.  Therefore,  a  deeper  search  must  be  made  ;  and 
the  task  is  well  adapted  to  a  mature  pupil,  guided  by  a 
suitable  hand-book  of  the  principles  of  classification. 
But  in  our  common  schools  this  is  impracticable.  All 
that  can  be  expected  is  to  familiarize  the  older  pupils 
with  the  systematic  position  of  our  common  plants,  as 
laid  down  in  the  Manuals  of  Botany ;  and  this  should 
only  be  done  by  the  course  marked  out  under  the  first 
part  of  this  section,  p.  45. 

Comparison  of  allied  species  is  always  useful,  and 
some  practice  may  be  given  in  the  elements  of  de¬ 
scription.  For  the  sake  of  acquiring  the  terms  most 
readily,  when  the  time  has  come  for  that,  let  the  practice 
with  fresh  and  dried  specimens,  and  with  such  figures 
of  plants  as  may  be  at  hand,  be  thorough,  but  never 
tiresome.  The  mechanical  execution  of  the  chromo¬ 
lithographs  of  plants  furnished  the  teachers  in  Bos¬ 
ton  appears  to  be  excellent ;  and  the  selections  are 
generally  good,  especially  those  of  the  “  Poisonous 
Plants.”  Good  figures  of  plants  can  be  turned  to 


54 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


good  account  for  this  purpose  ;  *  but  they  must  never 
be  used  to  the  exclusion  of  fresh  specimens  or  well- 
preserved  dried  ones.  Pupils  should  be  early 
pKTins  taught  to  dry  and  preserve  plants.  This  task  is 
very  simple,  and  the  collections  are  rapidly  and 
easily  made.  Any  common  unglazed  paper,  like  news¬ 
paper,  will  answer. 

“  In  laying  out  the  specimen  for  the  press,  use 
plenty  of  paper,  so  that  their  moisture  may  be  quickly 
absorbed,  and  the  danger  of  mould  avoided.  The 
specimens  should  be  laid  between  the  sheets  of  drying 
paper  in  as  natural  a  position  as  may  be,  taking  care 
not  to  crumple  the  leaves  or  flowers.  If  the  specimens 
be  too  long  for  the  paper,  they  may  be  carefully  folded 
or  cut  in  two.  Delicate  flowers  should  be  carefully 
folded  in  paper  when  gathered,  and  kept  flat.  Do  not 
arrange  all  the  specimens  just  in  the  middle  of  the 
paper,  but  dispose  them  in  such  a  way  that,  were  a  pile 
of  them  in  their  papers  two  feet  high,  they  would  not 
topple  over :  this  will  equalize  the  pressure.  Several 
dry  sheets  ought  to  be  laid  between  each  layer  of  fresh 
specimens,  the  quantity  of  paper  depending  upon  the 
thickness  and  succulence  of  the  plants  to  be  pressed. 
Pasteboards,  or,  better  still,  ventilators  —  made  the  size 
of  the  paper,  of  narrow  strips  of  very  thin  pine  wood 
(1-16  inch)  at  short  distances  apart,  nailed  together  in 
two  layers  at  right  angles  to  each  other  —  may  be  intro¬ 
duced  at  intervals  between  the  layers  of  paper  until  the 
pile  be  ready  for  the  press,  which  may  consist  simply 
of  two  stout  boards,  made  so  that  they  cannot  bend  or 
warp. 

*  A  work  by  Professor  T.  Meehan,  “Native  Flowers  and 
Ferns,”  contains  many  excellent  plates,  exhibiting  the  foliage 
and  the  general  habit  of  the  plants. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


55 


Between  these  boards  the  paper  and  specimens  must 
be  placed,  and  a  weight  of  stones  or  metal,  not  less  than 
50  or  60  lbs.,  laid  upon  the  top. 

.  “  The  papers  should  be  changed  several  times  once 
a  day,  and  then  at  longer  intervals,  until  the  specimens 
are  quite  dry,  when  they  should  be  removed  from  the 
press.  If  fresh  specimens  be  placed  in  the  press,  while 
others  are  in  process  of  drying,  they  must  be  carefully 
separated  by  pasteboard  or  by  a  thick  layer  of  paper. 

“  The  length  of  time  which  specimens  ought  to 
remain  in  the  press  varies  with  their  nature,  whether 
dry  or  succulent,  and  with  the  kind  and  quantity  of 
paper  used.”  * 

One  of  the  most  successful  preparers  of  specimens 
of  dried  plants  has  frequently  said  to  his  friends  that 
“  specimens  are  made  or  spoiled  in  the  first  twenty- 
four  hours ;  ”  that  is,  the  papers  should  be  frequently 
changed,  or  as  often  as  they  become  damp,  during  the 
first  day. 

When  dried  specimens  of  flowers  are  carefully  soaked 
in  warm  water,  the  parts  become  so  softened  that  they 
may  be  readily  dissected.  It  is  just  about  as  easy, 
though  not  quite  so  interesting,  to  study  dried  speci¬ 
mens  thus  soaked,  as  it  is  to  study  fresh  ones.  Even 
the  hastily  gathered  specimens  which  one  collects 
during  a  rapid  journey,  and  thrusts  for  preservation 
between  the  pages  of  a  book,  can  be  soaked  out,  dis¬ 
sected,  studied,  and  named  at  the  first  leisure. 


*  Professor  Oliver’s  Elementary  .Botany,  p.  288. 


56 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


IX.  FRUITS  AND  SEEDS. 

The  ripened  fruit-leaves,  with  their  contents,  consti¬ 
tute  the  fruit.  But,  in  maturing,  it  is  often  the  case  that 
some  other  parts  grow  ripe  too,  and,  clinging 
Fruits.  to  the  fruit  proper,  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  part 
of  it.  For  instance,  a  strawberry  is  mainly  a 
pulpy  receptacle  upon  which  are  dotted  the  true  fruits 
which  look  so  much  like  seeds.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  classify  or  enumerate  fruits  ;  but  a  few  words  respect¬ 
ing  some  of  the  more  common  kinds  may  not  be  amiss. 
When  the  carpel  or  carpels  ripen  into  fruit,  the  latter 
may  open  at  maturity,  or  it  may  remain  closed.  The 
opening  sorts  are  pods  of  many  kinds,  capsules :,  and  so 
on  :  the  closed  sorts  are  the  berry ,  in  which  the  whole 
ovary  ripens  into  a  pulpy  mass  with  a  thin  or  thick  skin  ; 
the  sto?ie-fruit ,  with  a  hard  bony  or  stony  shell  in  which 
is  the  seed,  —  the  shell  usually  covered  with  a  fleshy 
or  fibrous  mass,  as  in  the  peach  and  the  almond ;  the 
nut ,  which  has  an  extremely  tough  integument ;  and 
akenes ,  or  achenia ,  which  are  one-seeded  and  dry  fruits, 
usually  small.  Owing  to  the  singular  but  not  very  deep 
disguises  which  the  pistil  takes  on  during  its  ripening 
into  fruit,  it  affords  a  most  excellent  object  of  study  by 
young  scholars.  They  can  watch  the  changes  in  an 
apple-blossom,  for  instance,  and  detect  the  character 
of  the  modifications  which  occur  after  the  petals  have 
fallen  and  the  fruit  begins  to  form.  The  range  of  fruits 
at  the  command  of  the  teacher  in  a  city  is  pretty  wide, 
and  yields  material  which  may  be  utilized,  not  merely 
for  talks  which  will  be  interesting,  but  for  solid  study 
which  must  be  profitable. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


57 


Within  the  fruit  are  the  seeds.  An  exception,  which 
may  be  mentioned  in  passing,  is  found  in  the  Conifers, 
including  the  Pines,  Spruces,  and  so  on,  which 
have  seeds,  but  do  not  possess  any  closed  pis-  Seeds, 
tils ;  and  so,  according  to  the  definition,  cones 
are  hardly  to  be  called  fruits.  The  seeds  in  fruits 
which  remain  closed  are  not  furnished  with  any  inde¬ 
pendent  means  for  dispersal :  here  the  dissemination  is 
effected,  if  at  all,  by  the  fruit  in  some  way.  But  the 
seeds  of  fruits  which  open  at  maturity  are  not  infre¬ 
quently  furnished  with  wings,  plumes,  and  hairs,  upon 
which  they  can  be  carried  in  the  air  for  considerable 
distances.  Many  of  the  one-seeded  fruits 
which  do  not  open  when  ripe  have  means  for  batTon! 
dissemination,  such  as  wings,  plumes,  and  hairs, 
like  the  seeds  spoken  of ;  and  others  have  grappling- 
hooks,  claws,  teeth,  and  so  on ;  while  some  of  them 
are  so  constructed  that  they  can  be  fastened  securely 
in  the  ground  when  they  have  found  a  good  place. 
A  good  case  of  this  has  been  described  by  Hanstein.* 

“  Each  of  the  pods  or  valves  of  Erodium  is  pretty 
long  and  roundish  near  the  base,  where  it  is  fastened  by 
a  point.  At  maturity,  the  outer  side  of  each  contracts 
by  drying  more  strongly  than  the  inner,  and  thereby 
causes  an  outward  curvature  and  separation  of  the  parts 
of  the  fruit.  But,  the  tissue  of  the  awn  or  prolonga¬ 
tion  of  the  pod  being  hygroscopic,  it  extends  again  by 
absorption  of  moisture  from  the  air.  On  further  dry¬ 
ing,  the  awn  by  more  complete  contraction  on  one  side 
rolls  up  to  form  a  perfect  screw,  whilst  only  the  upper 
extremity  bends  out  into  a  sickle-like  curvature.  If  the 
fruit  is  fastened  perpendicularly  on  a  support,  the 

*  liotanische  Zeitung,  1869,  p.  530. 


58 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


curved  end  moves  like  the  hand  of  a  watch,  sometimes 
backwards,  sometimes  forwards,  with  every  change  in 
the  amount  of  atmospheric  moisture,  and  on  this  de¬ 
pends  the  well-known  application  of  these  fruits  in  the 
construction  of  simple  hygroscopes.  The  very  large 
fruits  of  Mrodium  gruinum  are  especially  adapted  for 
this  study.  When  drying,  the  fruit  forms  a  left-handed 
screw,  so  that  with  increase  of  moisture  the  tip  turns 
like  the  hand  of  a  watch  ;  by  diminution  of  moisture,  it 
goes  the  other  way.  If  such  a  fruit  is  put  in  a  fresh 
and  therefore  extended  state  on  soil  which  is  not  too 
moist,  the  tip  of  the  beak  will  describe  at  first  a  broad 
lateral  sickle-like  curvature,  while  in  its  lower  part  twist¬ 
ing  begins.  Supported  on  the  curved  upper  end,  the 
fruit  rises  and  by  means  of  its  point  gains  a  position 
which  is  inclined  to  the  ground.  By  increasing  tor¬ 
sion,  it  therefore  penetrates  the  soil,  and  straightway  is 
fastened  there,  for  it  is  wholly  covered  with  little  bristles 
which,  being  directed  somewhat  up,  act  like  grappling- 
hooks.  By  further  spiral  movement,  the  fruit  goes  more 
deeply  into  the  ground,  since  the  end  of  the  awn  fixed 
in  a  slanting  direction  against  the  ground  can  neither 
penetrate  it  nor  yield.  While  thus  one  turn  follows 
another,  the  spiral  nearest  to  the  head  of  the  fruit  bores 
into  the  ground  like  a  cork-screw,  and  pushes  the  true 
fruit  before  it  and  more  deeply  down.” 

The  fruits  of  our  cultivated  Pelargonium  exhibit  nearly 
the  same  phenomena. 

The  good  of  wide  dissemination  is  easily  understood. 
It  enables  the  embryo  plant  in  the  seed  to  have  a 
better  start  in  life  than  if  it  had  to  grow  up  under  the 
shade  of,  and  in  rivalry  with,  the  plant  which  produced  it. 
In  one  very  striking  case,  the  seeds  are  furnished  with 
hairs  which  are  turned  to  great  account  in  the  arts. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


59 


Cotton  consists  of  the  plant-hairs  found  thickly  packed 
apon  the  seeds  of  Gossypiinn.  This  plant-hair  is  the 
only  one  which  has  yet  been  sucessfuliy  used  in  spin¬ 
ning. 

Regarding  the  useful  products  from  the  vegetable 
kingdom  other  than  those  already  mentioned,  very  little 
can  now  be  said.  In  almost  any  of  the  treatises 
mentioned  on  page  io,  teachers  can  find  in- 
formation  respecting  these  :  such  as  Rubber  ucts1^1°™ 
from  the  milky  juice  of  many  plants ;  Opium, 
the  concrete  milky  juice  of  the  unripe  capsules  of  the 
Poppy ;  Cocoa  from  the  seed  of  Thcobroma  ;  Tea  from 
the  leaves  of  a  species  of  Ca7nellia  ;  Coffee,  the  seed 
of  a  subtropical  tree  ;  and  so  on. 

X.  MOVEMENTS,  AND  PARASITISM. 

It  remains  now,  in  closing,  to  call  attention  to  a  few 
curious  vegetable  phenomena  which  always  excite  the 
interest  of  pupils :  ist,  Movements.  These 
may  be  ( i )  chiefly  mechanical,  as  in  the  dried  move- 
parts  which  change  form  and  move,  when  ments- 
water  is  applied.  The  “  Resurrection  Plant  ”  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  and  the  Er odium ,  p.  57,  are  good  illustrations 
of  this.  (2)  The  spontaneous  movements  of  twiners 
like  Morning-glory  and  Hop-vine  >  (3)  movements 
after  touch  or  shock,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Sensitive 
Plant.  These  are  clearly  described  in  “  How  Plants 
Behave.”  All  the  moving  plants  there  spoken  of  car 
be  cultivated  with  a  little  care  in  school-rooms. 

2d.  The  insectivorous  plants,  especially  Dro- 
sera,  can  be  grown  with  facility  at  any  ordinary 


6o 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


school-room  window,  and  many  of  the  phenomena 
described  by  Mr.  Darwin  in  his  “  Insectivorous  Plants  ” 
can  be  examined  by  the  pupils.  The  tentacles  of 
Drosera  can  be  seen  to  bend  over  and  down  upon  the 
prey  which  they  sooner  or  later  consume  as  food. 

Lastly,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that 
many  plants  have  no  leaf-green  (p.  29),  and  there¬ 
fore  have  to  depend  upon  other  organisms 
plants?10  f°r  nutriment.  They  are  generally  white  or 
whitish. 

“  There  are  some  parasites  which  obtain  only  a  por¬ 
tion  of  their  nourishment  thus  at  second-hand :  they 
possess  more  or  less  leaf-green,  and  are  able  to  assimi¬ 
late  inorganic  matter ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  they 
attach  themselves  to  the  stems  or  roots  of  other  plants 
and  absorb  elaborated  juices  from  them.  Such  plants 
are  called  partial  parasites.  There  are  several  species 
belonging  to  the  Figwort  family,  in  which  this  partial 
parasitism  has  been  clearly  demonstrated.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  Gerardias,  the  foliage  is  green,  and  the  - 
appearance  of  the  plants  does  not  suggest  that  they 
are  obtaining  any  of  their  food  in  a  surreptitious  man¬ 
ner.  A  few  of  the  roots  become  attached  to  the  roots 
or  underground  stems  of  other  plants,  and  draw  from 
them  elaborated  nourishment.”  * 

The  parasites,  just  referred  to,  have  flowers  and  pro¬ 
duce  true  seeds  ;  but  by  far  the  largest  number  of  para¬ 
sitic  plants  and  of  saprophytes  belong  to  the  lower 
groups  which  produce  no  seeds  with  embryo  plants 
therein.  These  lower  plants  are  termed  Mushrooms, 
Moulds,  and  Rusts.  It  is  in  these  latter  groups  that 


*  Sprague’s  Wild  Flowers,  p.  15. 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


61 

the  lower  confines  of  the  Vegetable  Kingdom  are 
reached.  Such  simple  organisms,  the  yeast-cells,  for 
instance,  so  far  as  the  food  is  concerned,  have  so  much 
in  common  with  animals,  that  some  naturalists  have 
placed  them  in  a  middle  kingdom  between  the  vegeta¬ 
ble  and  animal  worlds,  for  they  have  some  characters 
of  both.  At  any  rate,  these  lower  plants,  devoid  of  leaf- 
green,  hide  from  view  any  sharp  line  of  demarcation 
between  plants  and  animals. 


* 


i 


COMMON  PLANTS. 


49 


contents,  and  often  with  some  of  its  contiguous  parts 
adherent,  constitutes  the  fruit.”  It  would  seem,  there¬ 
fore,  at  first  sight,  as  if  flowers,  in  order  to  perfect 
seeds  most  readily,  ought  to  be  so  constructed  that 
the  -  pollen  can  fall  upon  or  reach  the  stigma  without 
any  difficulty.  In  some  flowers,  like  the  late  and  small 
flowers  of  our  violets,  and  in  a  great  many  other  cases, 
this  is  so  :  the  pollen  is  placed  by  the  anther  directly 
upon  the  stigma,  or  the  stamen  is  so  placed  that  the 
pollen  can  very  easily  fall  upon  the  stigma.  But  there 
are  innumerable  instances  of  just  the  opposite  ;  and  in 
these  cases  the  transfer  of  the  pollen  must  be  made  by 
the  wind,  by  insects,  or  by  some  such  agent.  Some 
plants  have  the  stamens  only,  while  others  of  the  same 
species  have  only  the  pistils.  Willows  are  good  ex¬ 
amples  of  this  kind  of  separation.  Indian  Corn  is  an 
example  of  a  less  complete  separation.  In  this,  the 
flowers  with  stamens  form  the  plume  above,  and  the 
pistils  make  up  the  ears  with  the  silk  (the  styles  and 
stigmas)  below.  The  transfer  of  the  pollen  of  Indian 
Corn  is  made  by  the  wind,  which  can  carry  such  dry 
dust  to  long  distances.  The  pollen  of  some  ‘  of  our 
forest  trees  and  shrubs  is  transferred  by  the  same 
means,  and  it  frequently  falls  by  the  way,  collecting  in 
large  quantities  on  the  leeward  shores  of  lakej,  where 
it  resembles  sulphur.  There  are  many  cases  of  sepa¬ 
ration  of  the  stamens  and  pistil  which  are  just  as 
complete  as  Willow  and  Indian  Corn,  so  far  as  the 
possibility  of  the  pollen  reaching  the  stigma  without 
help  is  concerned ;  and  yet  the  stamens  and  pistils  are 
in  the  very  same  flower.  For  instance,  in  some  orchids 
the  pollen  is  packed  away  in  a  little  pocket,  from  which 


CONCERNING  A  FEW 


5° 

it  cannot  fall  to  reach  the  stigma,  but  froi  p  which  it 
is  readily  detached  by  the  insect  which  comes  to  the 
flower  in  search  of  nectar.  The  insect  unconsciously 
carries  the  package  of  pollen  off  to  another  flower,  and 
here  it  is  brought  in  contact  with  the  stigma  of  that 
flower.  These  are  among  the  most  striking  cases  of 
complicated  mechanism  by  which  an  end  is  reached, 
and  they  can  best  be  understood  by  a  careful  study 
of  Professor  Gray’s  charming  treatise,  “  How  Plants 
Behave.”  Without  engravings,  which  cannot  be  em¬ 
ployed  in  this  guide,  their  further  description  is  un¬ 
desirable.  The  object  at  present  is  merely  to  call 
attention  to  the  interesting  field  opened  before  every 
observer  of  flowers.  The  transfer,  in  many  cases, 
must  be  made  by  insect  aid ;  but  how  can  insects  be 
made  to  work  for  something  which  does  not  concern 
them?  There  are  many  insects  which  are  pollen- 
eaters.  Such,  coming  to  flowers  for  the  pollen  they  get, 
might  scatter  more  or  less  pollen  around,  and  transfer 
some  of  it  from  one  blossom  to  another ;  but  there  are 
more  which  are  fond  of  the  nectar  of  flowers.  The 
nectar  is  for  insects.  It  occurs  in  very  diverse  places 
in  different  blossoms,  but  it  is  almost  always  extensively 
_  ,  and  attractively  advertised.  Bright  colors,  with 
and  fra-  striking  contrasts  (the  “ nectar  spot”),  or  with 
Rrance‘  lines  of  contrasting  color  converging  towards 
the  cup  of  nectar  (the  “ nectar  guides”),  show  the 
insect  visitors  where  their  food  can  be  found.  A  little 
attention  will  make  clear  the  meaning  of  many  of  the 
colors  which  otherwise  might  be  passed  by  without 
thought.  There  is  hardly  any  phase  of  app'ied  Mor¬ 
phology  and  Physiology  in  which  pupils  take  more 


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